Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency

Opens September 29

2025 71 min DCP

Rated
ur
Annie Sprinkle, Beth Stephens
Cassils, Barbara Carrellas, Albert the Peacock

Featuring Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle doing a pre-film intro with an Ecosex 101 Primer and a post-film Q&A moderated by Matt Fagerholm

Gerber/Hart will be tabling in the lobby with a pop-up of queer archival materials from their collections before and after the screenings

Playing with Fire is a heartfelt, mythopoetic documentary born from the ashes of a massive, devastating forest fire. Long-time lovers Beth and Annie are forced to evacuate their home with their dog Butch and their lives are forever transformed. The film unfolds through an ecosexual lens (imagining the Earth as a lover) while weaving stories from a formerly incarcerated firefighter; Indigenous scholars; fire artists; a witch therapist; a fire fetishist; a fire tassel-twirling burlesque dancer; and Albert the wild, white peacock. Beth and Annie blend loss and grief with art, humor, sensuality and community care. Playing with Fire explores how a climate catastrophe intersects with social justice to create a powerful portrait of resilience in the face of a world in flames. 

Playing with Fire is the third film in Beth and Annie’s trilogy of environmental documentary feature films. Their first in the series was Goodbye Gauley Mountain—An Ecosexual Love Story. The second is Water Makes Us Wet—An Ecosexual Adventure

2025
USA
English
71 min
Limited Availability

Music Box Theatre screens films of all genres and from every era of cinema, both new releases and repertory. These films may sometimes contain upsetting, outdated, or offensive material. While we aim to introduce many of our screenings, we do not always provide warnings about potentially triggering content within the films we screen. We encourage our patrons to research the film before they attend using trailers, reviews, or content information found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com.

Showtimes for Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency

Featuring a post-film Q&A with Filmmakers Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens moderated by Matt Fagerholm