Fire Under Your Ass(1990)

Fire Under Your Ass is a German documentary that explores attitudes toward safe sex and AIDS awareness in Berlin's gay community during the height of the epidemic. Director Rosa von Praunheim interviews residents of Germany's gay capital, capturing a complex landscape of resistance and denial. While some acknowledge the need for caution, others reject safe-sex messaging as a threat to their hard-won sexual freedom and gay identity. Praunheim also speaks with politically engaged activists, finding that many avoid confronting uncomfortable truths about the crisis. The film presents a candid, sometimes uncomfortable portrait of a community grappling with mortality, identity, and the tension between individual liberty and collective survival during one of history's most devastating health catastrophes.