Standing Above the Clouds

Directed by Jalena Keane-Lee

When the massive Thirty Meter Telescope is proposed to be built on Mauna Kea, an uprising of kiaʻi (protectors) in Hawaiʻi and around the world dedicate their lives to protecting the sacred mountain from destruction. Through the lens of mothers and daughters in three Native Hawaiian families, Standing Above the Clouds explores intergenerational healing and the impacts of safeguarding cultural traditions.
Executive Produced by Multitude Films.

Jalena Keane-Lee (Director, Producer, Cinematographer) is a filmmaker who explores intergenerational trauma and healing through an intersectional lens. She was named a 2023 Adobe x Sundance Woman to Watch, and is the recipient of the Gotham Documentary Fellowship, Creative Culture woman filmmaker fellowship, Wyncote Fellowship and NeXt Doc Fellowship. Jalena is the winner of Tribeca Through Her Lens 2020 and DocPitch 2022. Her short films have streamed on POV and Criterion Collection, played at over 50 film festivals, and won best short at LA Asian Film Festival in 2020 and the Jury Award at Sundance in 2023. Jalena co-founded Breaktide Productions, an all-women-of-color production company that has won two Cannes Lion awards for branded content. Jalena is currently working on her first feature-length documentary which participated in the 2022 Sundance Edit and Story Lab.

Amber Espinosa-Jones (Producer) is a creative producer and DEIA strategist from Oakland, CA. She is a 2024 ArtEquity BIPOC Leader, 2022 DOC NYC Documentary New Leader, and recently produced the feature film STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS following Native-Hawaiian mother daughter activists executive produced by Multitude Films. Amber currently serves as Senior Manager of Artist + Audience Impact at Sundance Institute overseeing strategy and granting programs for marginalized artists and audiences. With a diverse background in theatre and film, Amber is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Dramatic Arts and Media Arts + Practice programs with an interest in social change and collaborative community building.

Erin Lau (Producer) has dedicated her life to creating empathy-forward stories for her community. Her work stretches across mediums — ranging from documentaries to branded content and scripted films. After completing her Bachelors at the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Erin went on to receive her MFA in directing from Chapman University. Since graduating, Erin has signed with the United Talent Agency (UTA) and continued her growth with the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Nia Tero, Points North Institute, Tribeca Studios, NBC, MTV, and more. Over the past decade, her projects have screened across the world in over 50 film festivals, while her work for Jubilee Media has accumulated over 130 million online views.

Diana Diroy (Editor) is a documentary filmmaker, editor, and cinematographer. Diroy, a Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab Fellow (2022), is currently editing the feature documentary, Standing Above the Clouds. In 2019, she edited the short version of the film, which won Best Documentary Short at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. She also recently edited the feature documentary, Fire Through Dry Grass, a film about a group of disabled artists living on a small island in NYC, fighting COVID and the city to protect the lives of 500 vulnerable nursing home residents. Diroy was selected for 2021-22 Sundance Art of Editing Fellowship and the Karen Schmeer Diversity in the Edit Room Program in 2018. Her work reflects her interests in social and environmental justice, activism, immigration, gender and identity. Diroy is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and continuously strives to collaborate and make magic with other creatives locally and remotely.