Standing Above the Clouds is a story of inter-generational women activists, who call themselves Ku Kia'i Mauna, or guardians of the mountain. The film follows three sets of mothers and daughters indigenous to the Big Island of Hawaii, at the forefront of the movement to protect their sacred mountain, Mauna Kea, from an eighteen story, Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Standing Above the Clouds 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.