Jalena Keane-Lee

Biography

Jalena Keane-Lee (she/her) is a filmmaker who explores intergenerational trauma and healing through an intersectional lens. She was named one of DOC NYC’s 2024 40 Under 40 Filmmakers to Watch, a 2023 Adobe x Sundance Woman to Watch, and co-founded Breaktide, an all-women-of-color video production company. 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’s directing style is guided by a politic that is rooted in the liberation of all people, and radical hope that a better world is not only possible but up to all of us to create. Jalena’s first feature-length documentary STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS premiered at HotDocs in 2024 where it won Best Social Impact Documentary.