Standing Above the Clouds

KPFA - A Rude Awakening

On today’s show, I’ll speak to filmmaker Jalena Keane-Lee about her documentary “Standing Above the Clouds”. This is the ongoing story about the fight against the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai’i.

“Standing Above the Clouds was created through a collaborative process with our film protagonists. Through making this film, our team aimed to re-imagine the documentary form to be a healing process that returned agency to the community featured in our film through a trauma informed practice of affirmative consent. We worked closely with our onscreen collaborators at every step of the process and have taken great care to mitigate any legal, emotional, or cultural harm that releasing a film might cause. It is our team’s great privilege and honor to have been invited into the Mauna Kea protector community and into the lives and homes of the families you see in our film.”

~ Jalena Keane-Lee (director, cinematographer, producer)

The film is an intimate journey through the women’s lives both on and off the mountain. It explores the physical and emotional toll of sustaining a grassroots movement. After nine months of living on the mountain, it gifts each woman with hope, strength and the understanding that victory is in standing in unity for sacred places where healing occurs through the sisterhood they have created along the way.

Instagram: @standingabovetheclouds, @protectingmaunakea

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