SEAT 31: ZOOEY ZEPHYR, a portrait of the first transgender Legislator in Montana during a fraught political moment, brings out the best in Zooey. She seems to be an expert in emotional jujitsu, transforming insults and injury into positive energy that fuels her as a happy warrior and lets her not only survive, but thrive.

SEAT 31 isn’t just a handbook for politicians. It’s a guide for anyone stuck in our politicized and polarized world who still wants the fundamental thing we see in others to be, quite simply, their humanity. SEAT 31 does what film does best, allowing viewers to see that humanity, to witness a new world, to sit next to Zooey during surprisingly intimate moments, and to maybe even go to the Queer Prom.

The sensitivity of this verite film was generated by trans director Kimberly Reed and her small crew, followed by collaboration with the queer editing duo Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher (GOSPEL OF EUREKA). The team created a whimsical watercolor of a short film that says only what it needs to say, while letting viewers experience the joy that trans characters in film are rarely allowed to feel.

SEAT 31’s style and surprisingly broad narrative arc have been acknowledged with many Jury and Audience awards for Best Documentary Short, including multiple Oscar-qualifying festivals, and been selected by leading predictors of the Oscar Short List.

As the Palm Springs international Shortfest Jury said: "Kimberly Reed captures insightful moments that sum up everything wrong with US Politics with a simple camera movement or a well timed cut. This documentary is a brilliant testament to the resilience of the human spirit, the foolish decisions made by those who purport to represent us in government, and the fact that trans people will never be erased from public life.”