Set!

2021 • 105’ • USA

Table setting — for most of us it’s a chore, but for some it’s a sport. Once a year, a group of highly competitive table-setters vie for the “Best of Show” ribbon at the Orange County Fair competition, often referred to as “The Olympics of Table Setting.” From taxidermied monkeys to table- reveal parties, eccentric personalities and old rivalries come to a head as contestants spend months preparing their tables only to be penalized by a misplaced dessert fork or what’s fondly referred to as “forking yourself.” But, SET! explores topics far beyond the silverware. It shows the extent to which a hobby can become a passion, which can then provide a purpose. It explores the reasons why we make art and how sharing your creative vision, however terrifying that may be, ultimately makes you a truer version of yourself.

Director / Producer:
Scott Gawlik

  • Best Documentary
    – Newport Beach Film Festival 2021

    Hot Docs 2021 [World Premiere]
    Beat Film Festival 2021
    Stranger Than Fiction 2021
    Melbourne International Film Festival 2021
    Phoenix Film Festival 2021
    Newburyport Documentary Film Festival 2021
    Edmonton International Film Festival 2021
    Heartland Film Festival 2021
    AGH Film Festival 2021
    Film Fest Tucson 2021
    Devour! The Food Film Festival 2021
    Naples International Film Festival 2021
    Newport Beach Film Festival 2021
    Cork Film Festival 2021
    Napa Valley Film Festival 2021
    IDFA 2021
    Docville 2022
    Milwaukee Film Festival 2022
    Docville Summer Outdoor 2022
    International Intangible Heritage Film Festival 2022

  • “One of the most compulsively watchable films at this year’s Hot Docs.”— POV Magazine

    “Pure entertainment.”
    — Canada’s National Observer

    “I didn't think a documentary about something so absurd was going to produce any kind of feeling in me, but it did.”
    — La Estatuilla

    “Full of passion and drama, colour and conflict.”— Saltwire

    “Has a hint of WAITING FOR GUFFMAN about it.”— Deadline

Filmmaker’s Biography

Scott Gawlik is a multiple Emmy-nominated director, producer, and operator of Crazy Cow Productions. Notable works include: DAVE ATTELL: ROAD WORK (Comedy Central);TODD GLASS: ACT HAPPY (Netflix); and A LITTLE HELP WITH CAROL BURNETT (Netflix).