AVN Hall of Famer Annie Sprinkle and her partner Beth Stephens are set to premiere their third ecosexual documentary, Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency, on September 26 at REDCAT in Los Angeles. This film marks the final installment in their trilogy of queer environmental documentaries, which began in 2014.

The documentary will kick off a five-city U.S. national tour, with additional screenings planned for Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. Following its limited theatrical release through November, the film will be available on-demand.

The Ecosexual Trilogy Concludes

Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency is the third chapter in a series of ecosexual documentaries by Sprinkle and Stephens. The trilogy began with Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story, released in 2014, followed by Water Makes Us Wet: An Ecosexual Adventure in 2019. The latest film, which had its world premiere at Frameline49 in 2025, addresses the worsening climate crisis.

The concept of ecosexuality, central to their work, involves loving the Earth as a lover and recognizing humanity's interconnectedness with nature. Sprinkle and Stephens launched the Ecosex Movement in 2008 and co-authored the book Assuming the Ecosexual Position—Earth as Lover, published by University of Minnesota Press, which chronicles their lives and art while exploring the practice of reorienting relationships with the planet.

Sprinkle, who made adult films from 1973-95, described her first ecosexual experience at age 24 on a beach in Panama, realizing a love for the Earth alongside human intimacy. She stated that this experience made her "eroticize everything," finding ecosex in nature and viewing all sex as ecosex. Sprinkle also noted the popularity of ecosexual content on platforms like OnlyFans and Pornhub, attributing it to nature's "sensual erotic delights." She described ecosex as a mindfulness practice, similar to tantra, where engagement leads to greater reward, from finding a sunset erotic to deeper explorations.

Stephens, a tenured professor of Performance Art at the University of California Santa Cruz since 1994, has collaborated with Sprinkle for over 23 years. Stephens was awarded a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in film and has presented her work at documenta 14, the 53rd Venice Biennale, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Together, they founded the Earth Lab, which documents their environmental and social activism on earthlabsf.org. They are also slated to receive a lifetime achievement award for their ecosexual activism at an upcoming screening in Berlin.

Sprinkle stated that while they did not invent the term "ecosexual," they wrote a Manifesto in 2008 to combine the "post-porn" movement and environmental activism. She views her role as a bridge between art and porn, and porn and art, describing Goodbye Gauley Mountain as the "first queer feature length eco doc that everyone ever made."

Filming Playing with Fire

The inspiration for Playing with Fire stemmed from Sprinkle and Stephens' personal experience of evacuating their Northern California redwood forest home during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires. The film begins with a "love letter" to their home in Boulder Creek, California, and explores the power of fire, its capacity to heal, and its potential for environmental destruction.

The documentary features interviews with artists, Indigenous elders, witches, educators, and formerly incarcerated firefighters, examining how people can support Earth's health. The film is partially narrated by Boulder Creek's mythical white peacock, Albert, and culminates in a ceremonial Wedding to Fire in the Redwoods. Frameline, an independent film distributor, described Playing with Fire in 2025 as a "powerful portrait of queer resilience in the face of a world in flames."

In line with Sprinkle's background, the film collaborated with several adult industry figures. Madison Young and Barbara Carellas, who appeared in Sprinkle’s 1992 film Sluts and Goddesses, are featured. AVN Hall of Famer Veronica Hart (Jane Hamilton) served as the film’s production manager, handling tasks such as COVID-19 testing, hospitality, and performer releases during filming.

Key Facts

  • Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency is the third ecosexual documentary by Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens.
  • The film premieres on September 26 at REDCAT in Los Angeles, followed by a five-city U.S. national tour.
  • The documentary addresses the climate crisis and was inspired by Sprinkle and Stephens' experience during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires in Northern California.
  • It features interviews with artists, Indigenous elders, witches, educators, and formerly incarcerated firefighters.
  • Adult industry figures Madison Young, Barbara Carellas, and AVN Hall of Famer Veronica Hart participated in the film.
  • The film's runtime is 71 minutes, according to Frameline49 (2025), and 101 minutes according to the Tomorrow Theater.