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 ...
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...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
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.
