Awarded The Golden Frog in the Short Documentary Films Competition at the 2022 Camerimage International Film Festival, A Mouthful of Petrol brings viewers into the high-octane world of banger racing, where drivers compete in salvaged cars and contact is strongly encouraged. Director Jess Kohl and cinematographer Adric Watson bring visual lyricism to the story of a young British petrol head preparing for his first race, and in the process the filmmakers immerse viewers in a world that's likely unfamiliar to their own.
Here, the regular collaborators reflect on their experiences making the project, which was supported out of Panavision London.
Panavision: How would you describe the look of the documentary?
Jess Kohl: We wanted the film to feel really naturalistic and immersive, to allow the viewer to feel like they're up-close with the action and the emotion of the banger racing world which is incredibly visceral and rich in texture, smells, colors. The pops of color from the cars stand out in an otherwise quite bare rural British landscape. We shot during winter, so that also informed the look and feel. Short, cold days lent to darker, cooler tones in our color palette.
Adric Watson: The environment of banger racing felt so extreme set against the otherwise quaint English countryside. It was noisy, colorful and textural; the senses become overwhelmed with cracked metal, sparks, fumes, oil and mud. As our formal approach was decided to be observational, I wanted to get close to our characters and tell the story through longer unbroken shots, predominantly on a single focal length and fixated on single characters. I wanted to elevate the expected look of observational documentary and make it feel more considered and cinematic.
Did you find inspiration in any particular visual references?
Kohl: We were looking a lot at the work of Roberto Minervini as reference for camera movement. He often shoots long takes following characters, letting the camera roll for extended periods of time to allow the characters to become immersed and pay less attention to the presence of the camera. This made sense for the action of our characters, who spend a lot of time roaming around the car yard or at the races.
Watson: When shooting observational documentary, I always have the work of Michael Glawogger and Wolfgang Thaler in mind. Another initial visual reference for me was Son of Saul. I wanted the camera to become absorbed into a character while the environment is layered in through sound and background. This concept wasn't dogmatically followed, but it guided the majority of my handheld camerawork.
Kohl: Another key reference for us was Chlo Zhao's The Rider, for its themes as well as the naturalistic and visceral approach to the cinematography and shooting landscapes. I think there's an interesting parallel between rodeo culture in the U.S. and stock car racing in the U.K. Both are thrill-seeking endeavors with the potential to be incredibly dangerous, and they attract a similar socioeconomic group of people, with strong gender-conforming roles attached to them.
What brought you to Panavision for this project?
Watson: Working with Panavision is always a privilege their legacy needs no explanation. Their generosity in supporting a no-budget, independent production deserves a great deal of praise. Film is always in danger of prioritizing commerce over art, and companies like Panavision that understand the value in supporting projects like ours are integral to the future of the artform.
Kohl: With such a wide range of lenses and equipment, we knew Panavision would be the best place to help us tell the story. We wanted to use a long, vintage zoom lens that would allow us to shoot the racing scenes in a dynamic way, close-up on the action, and Panavision were able to provide a 25-250mm that allowed us to do this. The support from the team was incredible and facilitated our being able to execute this film.
What did your collaboration look like once you started shooting?
Watson: Most of our creative discussions happened on the drive to and from our location. Once we were on set, Jess gave me full trust to shoot freely. As this was an independent production, everyone involved continually made sacrifices to carry on working. I don't think this would have been possible had we all not had a personal belief and investment in the project, which comes from a sense of trust and respect that starts at the top.
Kohl: Adric and I have worked together quite a bit on both commercial and documentary projects, so we have a good understanding of how each other works, which helps with communication and trust. A big part of the shooting process here was me taking a back seat and giving Adric the freedom and space to follow the characters. It was important to have conversations prior to filming, because once we were on set with our characters, we just wanted to be shooting uninterrupted.
What inspired each of you to become a filmmaker and what keeps you inspired today?
Watson: My family were painters, so I became immersed in visual communication as a child. I started making films with my school friends after seeing The Lord of the Rings and saving up for a DV cam so I suppose I owe it to Andrew Lesnie [ASC, ACS] and Peter Jackson. I'm continually inspired by people who work outside of conventional filmmaking structures, and documentary has always been on the frontline of this.
Kohl: I never thought to myself, I want to be a director.' I just started making work about communities or individuals I was interested in exploring, and gradually that has expanded into becoming a director. It's an amazing job as it allows me to explore worlds, people and places that I'd otherwise have no access to. It allows me to put myself in someone else's shoes and hopefully allows an
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
Awarded The Golden Frog in the Short Documentary Films Competition at the 2022 Camerimage International Film Festival, A Mouthful of Petrol brings viewers into the high-octane world of banger racing, where drivers compete in salvaged cars and contact is strongly encouraged. Director Jess Kohl and cinematographer Adric Watson bring visual lyricism to the story of a young British petrol head preparing for his first race, and in the process the filmmakers immerse viewers in a world that's likely unfamiliar to their own.
