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Moroni for President

Documentary | Saila J. Huusko & Jasper M. Rischen

  • SYNOPSIS

Every four years, the Navajo Nation elects its president, whom many consider the most powerful Native American in the country. Frustrated about the lack of progress in the reservation, Moroni Benally, a witty academic with radical ideas, hopes to defeat the incumbent president. Moroni for President follows the political newcomer’s grueling, lonely campaign against the “old guard,” and the monumental effort it takes to change the narrative and inspire people to move in new directions.


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53 minutes

Release: November 20, 2018

Expiration: November 20, 2022

Distributor: American ReFramed

Rights: Six (6) releases over four (4) years beginning 11/20/2018;

SCH/1YR (for K‐12); and non‐commercial cable rights.


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Saila J. Huusko

Co-Director
Saila J. Huusko is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. Her video work has appeared online at Al Jazeera America, GlobalPost, The Guardian, and The Village Voice – among others. She worked for three years as the in-house filmmaker for Crisis Management Initiative, an NGO founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Martti Ahtisaari. While there, she worked in several conflict zones, including in South Sudan and Afghanistan.

Jasper M. Rischen

Co-Director
Jasper M. Rischen graduated with high honors from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, winning a Pulitzer grant awarded to top students, as well as the Henry N. Taylor Award for best foreign student and a DuPont/Judy F. Crichton Award for best thesis film. He was the recipient of a Maria Moors Cabot Prize Scholarship and was named the Paul Steiger Annual Fund Scholar. Originally from The Netherlands, he worked as the U.S. producer for leading Dutch TV news shows prior to joining Columbia.

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Walt Pourier

Vice Chair

Walt is Oglala Lakota and created the logo for Urban Rez. He is Creative Director, owner of Nakota Designs Advertising Designs and Graphics. Executive Director of the Stronghold Society nonprofit dedicated to instilling hope and supporting youth movements through Live Life Call To Action Campaigns.

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lynn palmanteer-holder

Lynn Palmanteer-Holder, an Indigenous plateau woman of North Central Washington and member of eight of twelve Tribes of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Lynn recently retired as inaugural Director of Tribal Government Affairs for Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the state’s oversight agency of 34 CTCs.  She is a highly accomplished professional that spans over 40 years. She is an experienced educator that has a demonstrated history across K12, post-secondary & higher education as a teacher, school counselor, superintendent, researcher, and professor. Also, she has diverse experience as an entrepreneur, Tribal leader and administrator. She is skilled in curriculum and program development, facilitating government to government relationships that led to formal partnerships between state institutions and Tribes developing custom programs. Lynn has served on many boards and has been recognized for various statewide, and national awards. She has several scholarly publications and has done various conference presentations and speaking engagements, at the local, national and international level. Lynn holds a Ph.C. (ABD) in Social Welfare Policy from University of Washington. She earned her M.Ed., with a concentration in counseling psychology from Washington State University and B.Ed., in K12 Education from Eastern Washington University. Lynn is a wife of 49 years, a mother of three adult professional children, granny of 10 and great granny to two. Lynn and her husband are high school sweethearts, and together enjoy time with their 15+ two-legged blessings.