Film Guide:
Competition Films
A competition film is a movie selected by our festival's programming committee and entered into the official competition section to compete for awards.
Hold Onto Me
Directed by Myrsini Aristidou
It’s summer, and 11-year-old Iris is running wild through the streets with her older friend Danae when she learns her estranged father, Aris, is back in town for his own father’s funeral. Determined to get to know him, Iris tracks Aris down to a dilapidated shipyard where he has been keeping to himself. What begins as a stubborn attempt to reconnect develops into a complex yet powerful bond.
Winner of the 2026 Sundance Audience Award for World Cinema Dramatic
Honeyjoon
Directed and produced by Lilian Mehrel
A surprisingly sexy, darkly funny emotional rollercoaster. In this layered dark comedy, June and her Persian-British mom Lela travel to the romantic Azores islands for a grief anniversary, with contrasting ways of coping. A hot philosophical surfer takes them on a tour as we surf the waves of life, loss, flirting… an unforgettable ride. In her award-winning debut feature, director Lilian T. Mehrel brilliantly transforms grief, desire, and human connection into something electric, introducing a visionary new voice.
Tribeca Festival Official Selection 2025
If These Walls Could Rock
Directed by Tyler Measom and Craig Williams
Featuring a lineup including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bob Thornton, Ringo Starr, Slash, Cyndi Lauper, Morrissey, Dave Grohl and many others, IF THESE WALLS COULD ROCK is the untold story of the Sunset Marquis—the legendary West Hollywood hideaway where rock stars checked in, passed out, and made history.
Doc NYC Official Selection 2025
Mallory’s Ghost
Directed by Arabella Oz
Mallory, plagued by fears of being unremarkable, joins her playwright boyfriend Sam on a retreat to coastal Maine. When she learns he once brought his glamorous ex, Louise, there, she’s struck with an obsessive curiosity about his past. As her jealousy takes hold, Mallory becomes convinced she’s being haunted by the ghost of Louise herself... Pulled into a journey that slips between past and present, rivalry and affection, melancholy and creativity, Mallory drifts further from her old life and toward something essential. "Mallory’s Ghost" is a psychological and playful exploration of envy, and the strange path it can lead back to the Self.
SXSW Nominee, Maine International Film Festival Best Feature
NATCHEZ
Directed and produced by Suzannah Herbert
NATCHEZ captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town; a layered mosaic of people contending with the weight of the past in a place where it is always present. Equal parts amusing and disturbing, we journey through an antebellum tourist destination at a crossroads as it grapples with a deeply troubled history that is so thoroughly ingrained in its present, we’re left to wonder if it’s actually past at all.
Tribeca Festival Best Documentary 2025
The Oldest Person in the World
Directed by Sam Green
Filmed over ten years, his luminous film spans countries and cultures as he meets current record-holders for the oldest person alive. With gentle encouragement, Green asks what this stage of life is like and tries to elicit their answers to existential questions around mortality. What defines a life well-lived? What matters most in the end? Sensitive narration and poignant connections link a series of unexpected encounters. Throughout the journey, Green weaves in his own introspections, reflecting on fatherhood, illness, loss, and love. Every person on the planet is born, and every person will die; The Oldest Person in the World explores the vast range of living that comes in between.
Sundance Official Selection 2026, Academy Award Nominated Filmmaker Sam Green
A feature documentary following the closure of the Canton paper mill and what it means for the people of Haywood County and Western North Carolina. When the paper mill that sustained a small Appalachian town for over a century shuts down, its people face not only economic collapse, but a deeper question — who are they without it? Grammy-winning musician Dave Matthews is on the film as an Executive Producer.
Directed by Jeremy Seifert and Benjamin James Roberts
Papertown
Executive Produced by Grammy-award winning musician Dave Matthews
Susan
Directed and produced by Russ Kirkpatrick
Set against the backdrop of Oklahoma’s glowing sunsets, a lush ribbon of river in southwest Missouri, and the sugary sands of Panama City Beach, Florida, follow the story of a family’s fascinating history and how the past plays into current-day dynamics that have to exist because of their matriarch’s involuntary life journey, and unorthodox life planning. The subject of Susan, Susan Suchan, was initially misdiagnosed with early onset Alzheimers, then later with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) disorder, the same as actor Bruce Willis. When Willis’ diagnosis went public, it brought a new level of awareness to FTD and PPA. Filmed over the course of several years, Susan will continue to bring awareness to FTD and PPA. In dramatic fashion, Susan puts a face to FTD, turning on its head the idea that someone with a diagnosis like this doesn’t have a voice. Susan Suchan also advocated tirelessly for others.
Official Selection for Top Indie Film Awards
Special Screenings
Special Screenings are selected to be shown outside the official competition; they are not competing for an award. Each special screening will include a panel or Q&A following the film.
The Last Class
Directed by Elliot Kirschner
Robert Reich’s "The Last Class" is a documentary film directed by Elliot Kirschner that chronicles the final semester of former U.S. Secretary of Labor and political economist Robert Reich teaching his famous "Wealth and Poverty" course at UC Berkeley. The film serves as both a reflection on his 42-year academic career—having taught over 40,000 students—and a deep dive into the dual realities of his own aging and the future his students will inherit. During his final lecture, 1,000 students filled the largest lecture hall on the UC Berkeley campus.
Path of the Panther
Directed by Eric Benedick
Emmy nominated, official selection of Doc NYC 2022. As the last big cat surviving in the eastern US, and the state animal of Florida, the panther is an icon of Florida’s last wild places. Now the panther’s many advocates — including a wildlife photographer, veterinarians, ranchers, conservationists, and indigenous people — find themselves on the front lines of an accelerating battle between forces of renewal and destruction that have pushed the Everglades to the brink of ecological collapse.
Patriots Day
Directed by Peter Berg, Screenwriter Matt Cook
Starring Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Bacon. Patriots Day is a 2016 American action thriller film based on the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 and the subsequent terrorist manhunt. On April 14, 2013, Boston Police Department Sergeant Tommy Saunders captures a suspect and fails to convince Commissioner Ed Davis to let him off from a punishment duty the next day, working the Boston Marathon. During the marathon, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonate two bombs, causing widespread panic in Boston and around the world.
Weekend Passes
Film Festival VIP Pass
Access to all films and seminars throughout the festival weekend.*
Price: $150 + fees
Film Festival Pass
Access to film screenings only throughout the festival weekend.
Price: $75 + fees
*Looking for full access to the festival, including our black-and-white masquerade?
Join the Film Festival Society! Information below!
Join the Film Festival Society!
The Film Festival Society is the best way to experience the festival and support what makes it possible. Enjoy all of the perks: exclusive events, special access, a VIP weekend pass and a closer connection to the festival.
$750 per person / $1,500 per couple
Perks:
Exclusive access to the Black and White Masquerade (for Society members and sponsors only)
Access to the Horror Deconstructed seminar (for Society members, sponsors only, and VIP pass only)
VIP Festival Pass (includes all films + events)
Reserved seating at all films + events
Special lanyard and festival badge
Free popcorn throughout the Festival in limited edition popcorn tub
Contact Charlotte for more information at cmuir@highlandsperformingarts.com.
Artistic Direction
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Artistic Direction 〰️
The Highlands–Cashiers region is a natural destination for arts, culture, and community. The festival’s greatest strength is its setting — intimate, scenic, and rooted in mountain identity. To grow intentionally and sustainably, the 2026 festival will shift toward a curated, boutique model inspired by Telluride, early Sundance, and other high-touch mountain gatherings.
This approach emphasizes experience over volume and transforms HCFF into a festival that people return to annually for a sense of connection, discovery, and place. HCFF becomes a signature cultural gathering in the mountains—creating an unforgettable weekend where film, community, and nature converge to support the Performing Arts Center, with various kinds of shared, in-person experiences no screen at home can replicate.
What Defines the 2026 Experience
Thoughtfully curated film slate focusing on experiences people can’t have at home
High-touch signature events that elevate donor experience
Deep integration with the Highlands–Cashiers community
A sense of retreat, reflection, and connection