Austrian filmmaker Lukas Marxt has created an experimental documentary titled >1.5°C: Pyropolitics and the New World centered on the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. The film departs from conventional news coverage by presenting extended observational scenes filmed from fixed positions, without narration, talking heads, or traditional commentary. Instead, it opens with a philosophical quote about pyropolitics—the politics of fire and its geopolitical dimensions—setting the thematic framework for the visual and audio experience that follows.
Marxt was based in California while working on a previous project near the Salton Sea when the wildfires began. He initially hesitated to document the disaster, concerned about potentially interfering with rescue and evacuation efforts. However, after discussing the situation with affected friends and community members, he decided to record the events as a historical documentation. The filmmaker and his team, working with cinematographer Carson Davis Brown, captured footage of fires, firefighter operations, emergency shelters, and the aftermath, while deliberately avoiding elements already covered extensively by mainstream media outlets.
The film’s title references the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature limit established in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, though Marxt notes significant differences in awareness between American and European audiences regarding this international treaty. The documentary invites viewers to consider the broader geopolitical and political factors contributing to increasingly severe fire events. Marxt emphasizes that while the film focuses on the Los Angeles incident, similar wildfires are occurring globally, from France to the Iberian Peninsula, often approaching urban areas with increasing frequency.
Marxt frames the film as an invitation for deeper examination rather than providing definitive answers. He suggests that human activities—particularly those prioritizing maximum profit in agriculture and industry—fundamentally alter natural fire patterns and ecosystems. The filmmaker views the documentary as a potential catalyst for conversation and critical thinking about how societies shape the Earth and manage environmental challenges, reflecting his broader artistic focus on examining the boundaries between industrial development and ecological impact.
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