Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency

“Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency” is a joyous ecosexual documentary born from the ashes of California’s devastating fires. When lightning ignites the redwood forest surrounding their home in Boulder Creek, longtime lovers Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle are forced to evacuate — and their lives are forever transformed.

Blending loss and grief with art, humor, and community care, the film unfolds through an ecosexual lens (imagining the Earth as a lover) while weaving stories from formerly incarcerated firefighters, an Indigenous scholar, fire artists, neighbors, a witch-therapist, a fire-play massage fetishist, and a fire tassel twirling burlesque queen.

The film explores how climate catastrophe intersects with social justice, offering a powerful portrait of resilience in the face of a world in flames.