Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency is a documentary by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens that imagines the Earth as a lover. When lightning ignites the redwood forest surrounding their home in Boulder Creek, longtime partners Beth and Annie are forced to evacuate and their lives are forever transformed. Blending loss with art, humor, and community care, the film interweaves stories from formerly incarcerated firefighters, an Indigenous scholar, neighbors, a fire tassel twirling burlesque dancer, and a witch therapist. Drawing from Stephens and Sprinkle’s interdisciplinary, sex-positive practice, the film also features performances including a fire stunt by the artist Cassils, a volcanic fire-play massage with sex educator Barbara Carrellas, and an impassioned ritual by performance poet Guillermo Gómez-Peña. Born from the ashes of California’s devastating wildfires, Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency is a creative and urgent call to action that illustrates how climate catastrophe intersects with social justice, and portrays the power of queer resilience in the face of a world in flames.
The screening will be preceded by an Ecosex 101 Primer, a performative introduction by Sprinkle and Stephens to the Ecosexual movement, which they describe as an environmentalism that is feminist, queer, sensual, sexual, post-human, materialist, and steeped in humor. A post-screening conversation with the filmmakers will be moderated by Amelia Jones.