A Match to a Flame is a documentary anthology weaving together a year’s worth of Tacoma’s creative pulse. Through intimate sidewalk performances, dueling art forms captured side by side, portraits of local food and culture, and a rising class of young MCs finding their sound, the film builds a portrait of a city in creative motion.

Threaded through it all is a throughline of mentorship. Longtime Tacoma artists and institutions pass the torch to newcomers and the next generation, not defined by age but by who’s stepping into their moment next. Like a flame passed from match to match, each story catches fire from the one before it, and the film becomes a shared narrative, built by an entire community.

Part concert film, part street level journalism, part generational love letter to a city, A Match to a Flame is Tacoma’s creative year, documented and set alight.