The Big Fix raises concerns over Obama administration's use of toxic chemical Corexit and BP's leverage in the crisis

It's not every film that sets off on a mini-road trip with Peter Fonda, only to veer off into a night-vision goggle surveillance of a BP facility.

But then, the events of last year's BP oil disaster have so far been largely revisited in books, not documentaries. Until now, when a new documentary about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has its premiere at the New Orleans film festival.

The Bix Fix, by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, re-opens some of the most persistent questions about last year's oil spill. How BP was able to exert so much control over the crisis as it unfolded? What were the long-term health consequences of using a toxic chemical, Corexit, to break up the oil and drive it underwater?

Rebecca Tickell herself had a serious reaction to the chemical after being out on the open water – and as it turned out so did the doctor she consulted in an Alabama beach town. She still has health problems.

Josh Tickell, who grew up in Louisiana, said the Obama administration's decision to allow the use of Corexit, which is banned in Britain, was the biggest surprise in the making of the film.

"The most shocking thing to me was the disregard with which the people of the Gulf region were dealt," Tickell said.

"Specifically I think that there was sort of a turn-a-blind-eye attitude towards the spraying of dispersants to clean up the spill. I don't think anyone wanted to look too deeply at the consequences."