This 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, witness a new world, and sit next to Zooey during surprisingly intimate moments.
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). 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.