Out of the Ashes, an immersive documentary co-directed by Los Angeles–based creators Rory Mitchell and Nonny de la Peña that places audiences within the aftermath of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, received the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize today at Venice Immersive, the extended reality section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
The international Venice Immersive jury, chaired by Paul Raphaël and comprising Négar Motevalymeidanshah and Kate Voet, selected Out of the Ashes for the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize from among 30 projects in competition during the section’s 10th anniversary.
Narrated by award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance, the 26-minute virtual reality documentary explores loss, memory, resilience, and what it means to rebuild after a disaster. It uses spatial capture technologies, including Gaussian splats, and participants’ own photos and videos to reconstruct places transformed or lost in the January 2025 Los Angeles fires and bring audiences closer to the people and communities behind them.
“When the fires happened, I knew we needed to begin documenting what people had gone through before the news cycle moved on,” said Nonny de la Peña, co-director and producer. “The technology allows us to recreate memories in three dimensions, but the subject always drives the piece. This is a story about climate disaster, but it is also about communities coming together and finding a way forward. If it can inspire people, including decision-makers, to understand what is at stake and act, that is the best outcome I can imagine.”
“Receiving this recognition in Venice helps carry the story of Los Angeles, Altadena, and the Palisades to a much broader audience,” added Rory Mitchell, co-director and producer. “By rebuilding participants’ homes around them using their own photos and videos, we hope people can better understand the life of a house, the life of a family, and what was truly lost. In Venice, audiences connected the work not only to climate change, but also to their own experiences of loss, grief, and moving forward.”
On Jan. 7, 2025, wind-driven fires tore through the Los Angeles region, burning roughly 40,000 acres, destroying more than 16,000 structures, and displacing more than 100,000 people. Out of the Ashes centers seven personal accounts to make that citywide loss tangible: a hand-painted red front door, an antique cello, a child’s bedroom, and other fragments of home and family history.
The film’s technical approach grew from the materials people already had. Using family photographs and home videos, the team created spatial reconstructions that surround participants as they tell their stories. The documentary closes with an epilogue highlighting organizations leading recovery efforts, including My Tribe Rise, Evolve Altadena, and the Palisades Recovery Coalition.
