jalena keane-lee
jalena keane-lee
Jalena Keane-Lee
Jalena’s filmmaking explores intergenerational trauma and healing through an intersectional lens.
Jalena, named one of DOC NYC’s 2024 40 Under 40 Documentary Filmmakers to Watch and one of Adobe x Sundance’s 2023 Women to Watch, is currently touring her first feature length documentary, Standing Above the Clouds which follows Native Hawaiian mother daughter activists. The film premiered at HotDocs in 2024 where it won the Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Doc. It has gone on to play at over 15 film festivals and won Special Mention for Best International Director at DocEdge 2024, Best International Cinematography at Film Ambiente, Best Feature Documentary at the 2024 San Diego Asian Film Festival and Best Made in Hawaiʻi Feature Film at the 2024 Hawaiʻi International Film Festival.
Her short films have screened at over 40 film festivals, won best short documentary at the 2020 LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, the 2024 San Diego Asian Film Festival, the Sundance Jury Award in 2023, streamed on the Criterion Collection, Nowness Asia and broadcast nationally on POV. Jalena was the winner of Tribeca Through Her Lens 2020 and DocLands 2022.
Jalena co-founded Breaktide Productions, an all women of color production company. She has produced commercial series for clients like Nike, Facebook, and LinkedIn and worked with non-profit organizations like The Center for Cultural Power, The Teaching Well, and Bright Pink to create engaging video campaigns.
Film
Film
STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS (2024)
STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS is a feature length documentary that follows three families of Native Hawaiian mother daughter activists standing to protect their sacred mountain Mauna Kea from the building of the massive Thirty Meter Telescope. After being supported by The Perspective Fund, IDA, Field of Vision, Gotham Documentary Lab and the Sundance Edit Lab and more the film premeried at HOT DOCS 2024 where it won the Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary it also won Special Mention for Best International Director at Doc Edge 2024 and Best International Cinematography at Film Ambiente 2024.
TRACING HISTORY (2023)
TRACING HISTORY is Jalena’s first personal short documentary where her and her mom visit the sites where their Chinese ancestors may have labored to build the railroad six generations ago. TRACING HISTORY premiered at the Kennedy Center, then went on to win Best Short Documentary at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, and play at at the Museum of Modern Art, LA Asian Film Festival, CAAMFest, IndyShorts and Mill Valley Film Festival, DOC NYC, and more. It is now streaming on NOWNESS ASIA.
STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS (Short Film, 2020)
STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS follows Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists as they stand to protect their sacred mountain Mauna Kea from the building of the world’s largest telescope. Standing Above the Clouds has screened at over 40 film festivals including New Orleans Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Allied Media Festival, and Race Forward. It won Best Documentary Short at LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Best Short Film at Melbourne Women in Film Festival, and Special Mention from the Center for Asian American Media. The film is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. Learn more about the film here.
BARRIO CHINO HAVANA (2021)
Barrio Chino Havana explores the rich, but forgotten, history of the Chinese in Cuba through the stories of four elders: Pedro, Mauro, Caridad, and Georgina—and their descendants. Barrio Chino, Havana’s once-vibrant Chinatown, is one of the oldest and largest in Latin America, now turning to dust along with its history. Coming 2025.
PERIOD GIRL (2018)
PERIOD GIRL is a short documentary that follows Nadya Okamoto, a 20 year-old Harvard sophomore who started the non-profit PERIOD., as she opens up about some of the personal trauma that helps fuel her work. A film by Jalena Keane-Lee supported by the Jacob Burns Film Center Creative Culture Fellowship. **Content Warning: Mentions of Domestic and Sexual Abuse**
Mana Wahine Music Video (2019)
MANA WAHINE official music video. A dedication to all the women around the world standing to protect Mother Earth. Directed, Produced, Filmed, and Edited by Jalena Keane-Lee
THE CONSTRUCT: Female Laborers and the Fight for Equality (2017)
The Construct: Female Laborers and the Fight for Equality follows San Thi Da, a 20 year-old construction worker, and Cheery Zahau, a human rights activist to examine feminism among different socio-economic classes in Yangon, Mynamar. Along with winning Best Student Film at Impact Docs and Best Short Film at the Albany Film Festival, The Construct has screened at film festivals around the country.