Jalena Keane-Lee
Jalena Keane-Lee (Director, Producer) is a Director, DP, Producer, and the co-founder of Breaktide Productions, an all women of color video production company. Jalena has lead Breaktide to create national video campaigns for clients like THINX, Bright Pink, and Nike, as well as producing original short films. Jalena is a 2018 NeXt Doc Fellow and a 2018 Sally Burns Shenkman Woman Filmmaker Fellow at the Jacob Burns Film Center, which has supported shorts that have premiered at SXSW, HotDocs, and Sundance. Jalena is currently in production directing her first documentary feature following a young menstrual activist fighting to end the tampon tax co-produced by Stick Figure Productions.
Presentations from Facing Race 2020
Race Flicks Panel (Q&A)
Join filmmakers of our Race Flicks films for a Q&A session.
- All Skinfolk Ain’t Kinfolk - Angela Tucker (Director/Producer)
- Belly of the Beast - Erika Cohn (Director/Producer)
- Standing Above the Clouds - Jalena Keane-Lee (Director/Producer)
- Stateless (Apátrida) - Michèle Stephenson (Director)
- The Passing On - Nathan Clarke (Director), Lana Garland (Producer)
- Through the Night - Loira Limbal (Director/Producer)
- While I Breathe I Hope - Xuan Vu (Producer/Editor)
Standing Above the Clouds
Standing Above the Clouds is the story of inter-generational women activists on the Big Island of Hawaii, who call themselves Kū Kiaʻi Mauna, or protectors of Mauna Kea. The film follows three sets of mothers, daughters, and grandmothers, who are at the forefront of the indigenous movement to safeguard their sacred mountain, Mauna Kea, when a construction permit was granted for an eighteen story, Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to be built on pristine land. Mauna Kea is the tallest peak in the world from seashore, standing at 14,000 feet, and is believed in Hawaiian culture to be the portal to the gods. The film explores the relationships between native Hawaiian mothers and daughters as they go from standing in ceremony to standing on the mountain and in the courtroom.
Directed/Produced by Jalena Keane-Lee, Produced by Amber Espinosa-Jones and Pua Case
Speakers: Jalena Keane-Lee, Amber Espinosa-Jones, Pua Case