Watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition? New Short Film Shows How Competitive Eaters Do It (VIDEO)

If you were able to catch some of the annual Fourth of July Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest this year, you saw the dramatic, disgusting, sausage-and-spit-splattered intersection of competition and food.

In this year's installment of the highest-profile competitive eating competition in the world, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut walked away with his fifth straight win, eating 62 hot dogs, while across town, banned competitor Takeru Kobayashi (long story) crushed the hot dog eating world record by gulping down a mind-boggling 69 hot dogs in ten minutes.

So how do these seemingly super-human eating machines accomplish such ridiculous feats? A new short film sheds light on the uncomfortable and bizarre topic of competitive eating.

Like “The Fighter” and “The Wrestler,” “The Eater” showcases the thrill of human contest mixed with the sorrow of indigestion and a side of humor.

Filmmaker Niko Hronopoulos digs into the world of “gurgitators” – a term of endearment used by those close to the sport of competitive eating.

As AOL News reports, the movie takes inspiration from “The Color of Money” and chronicles a former champion trying to recover glory by coaching the next speed eating star.

The 12 minute long film is only 2 minutes longer than the time it takes real-life contestants to inhale masses of wieners in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Ironically the star of the film never had an appetite for the sport.

"Believe it or not, Pete was not a fan of eating and he didn't like hot dogs," Hronopoulos said. "We shot around this, but, funnily enough, you can see his eyes get red from the eating he did -- it was almost an allergic reaction -- and it looked like he had eaten a huge amount of food, even though he hadn't.

Hronopoulos also revealed that thanks to the budget contraints, they had to hold off on copious eating until the end. They used the “Jaws” effect he explained – pun assumingly intended.

You can catch Hronopoulos’ tricks and the stomach grabbing flick, which has been screening at various film festivals, right here: