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Participate in Events
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Filmscreening, performative introduction and Q&A Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency
Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle present
When:
Tue, May 5, 2026, 8pm–10pm
Free admission
Duration:
approx. 2 hours
Meeting point:
HFF-Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen
What else:
No registration required.
This event will be in English.
The artists are present. One day later there will be a performative walk with Beth Stevens and Annie Sprinkle.
When:
Tue, May 5, 2026, 8pm–10pm
Free admission
Duration:
approx. 2 hours
Meeting point:
HFF-Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen
What else:
No registration required.
This event will be in English.
The artists are present. One day later there will be a performative walk with Beth Stevens and Annie Sprinkle.
“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 fire fighter, Indigenous scholars, fire artists, a witch therapist, fire fetishist, 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.
USA 2025, Digital Video, 71 min, English
Directors: Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle
Producers: Keith Wilson, Oana Tenter, Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle
Production: Co: E.A.R.T.H. Lab SF
Executive Producers: Xandra Coe, Judy Meath, Julia Robertson and Joseph Kramer
Director of Photography: Jordan Freeman
Original Music: Guillermo Galindo
Editor: Diana J. Brodie
Organizers of the event: Ella von der Haide, Helen Varley Jamieson, Felix Klee and Samira Yildirim
Select Press Quotes
“Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephen’s form of environmental activism smashes binaries, promotes radical inclusivity, and embraces the power of pleasure.”
Tristan Taormino, Author, Sexologist
“This compost is hot!”
Dr. Donna Haraway, Professor Emerita, UCSC, Author of “When Species Meet”
“Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens are living art.”
Constance Penley, Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara Professor of Film & Media Studies
“Through storytelling, poetic manifestos, and detailed descriptions of projects, Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens trace their relentless commitment to all forms of ecosex devotion and offer an open-ended guide on how to embody and enact a daily earth-loving practice.”
Guillermo Gómez-Peña, performance artist, writer, and artistic director of La Pocha Nostra (Referring to the book Assuming the Ecosexual Position)
“Water Makes Us Wet is an excellent essay film which addresses the foremost problem of mankind: access to clean water—with informed intelligence and sexy humor.”
Monika Treut, Queer Filmmaking Pioneer
“Your ecosex project is what we—the planet, the art world, and academia—all need at the moment.”
Dr. Mithu Melanie Sanyal, Feminist journalist, Author
In cooperation with:
In the context of the exhibition
Buntes Garten Ciao
