diff --git a/media/-video-with-dash-.mp4 b/media/-video-with-dash-.mp4
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad89c0e66
Binary files /dev/null and b/media/-video-with-dash-.mp4 differ
diff --git a/moviepy/audio/io/ffmpeg_audiowriter.py b/moviepy/audio/io/ffmpeg_audiowriter.py
index 3d7fea660..7b0123a15 100644
--- a/moviepy/audio/io/ffmpeg_audiowriter.py
+++ b/moviepy/audio/io/ffmpeg_audiowriter.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 from moviepy.config import FFMPEG_BINARY
 from moviepy.decorators import requires_duration
-from moviepy.tools import cross_platform_popen_params
+from moviepy.tools import cross_platform_popen_params, ffmpeg_escape_filename
 
 
 class FFMPEG_AudioWriter:
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def __init__(
         if input_video is None:
             cmd.extend(["-vn"])
         else:
-            cmd.extend(["-i", input_video, "-vcodec", "copy"])
+            cmd.extend(["-i", ffmpeg_escape_filename(input_video), "-vcodec", "copy"])
 
         cmd.extend(["-acodec", codec] + ["-ar", "%d" % fps_input])
         cmd.extend(["-strict", "-2"])  # needed to support codec 'aac'
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def __init__(
             cmd.extend(["-ab", bitrate])
         if ffmpeg_params is not None:
             cmd.extend(ffmpeg_params)
-        cmd.extend([filename])
+        cmd.extend([ffmpeg_escape_filename(filename)])
 
         popen_params = cross_platform_popen_params(
             {"stdout": sp.DEVNULL, "stderr": logfile, "stdin": sp.PIPE}
diff --git a/moviepy/audio/io/readers.py b/moviepy/audio/io/readers.py
index 80f0f6dea..5d57f5488 100644
--- a/moviepy/audio/io/readers.py
+++ b/moviepy/audio/io/readers.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 from moviepy.config import FFMPEG_BINARY
-from moviepy.tools import cross_platform_popen_params
+from moviepy.tools import cross_platform_popen_params, ffmpeg_escape_filename
 from moviepy.video.io.ffmpeg_reader import ffmpeg_parse_infos
 
 
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@ def initialize(self, start_time=0):
                 "-ss",
                 "%.05f" % (start_time - offset),
                 "-i",
-                self.filename,
+                ffmpeg_escape_filename(self.filename),
                 "-vn",
                 "-ss",
                 "%.05f" % offset,
             ]
         else:
-            i_arg = ["-i", self.filename, "-vn"]
+            i_arg = ["-i", ffmpeg_escape_filename(self.filename), "-vn"]
 
         cmd = (
             [FFMPEG_BINARY]
diff --git a/moviepy/tools.py b/moviepy/tools.py
index 52917b40f..fab9791f0 100644
--- a/moviepy/tools.py
+++ b/moviepy/tools.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import platform
 import subprocess as sp
 import warnings
+import shlex
 
 import proglog
 
@@ -50,6 +51,18 @@ def subprocess_call(cmd, logger="bar"):
     del proc
 
 
+def ffmpeg_escape_filename(filename):
+    """Escape a filename that we want to pass to the ffmpeg command line
+
+    That will ensure the filename doesn't start with a '-' (which would raise an error)
+    and use `shlex.quote` to escape filenames with spaces and special chars.
+    """
+    if filename.startswith('-') :
+        filename = './' + filename
+
+    return shlex.quote(filename)
+
+
 def convert_to_seconds(time):
     """Will convert any time into seconds.
 
diff --git a/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_reader.py b/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_reader.py
index b22aa2b6d..810842ed3 100644
--- a/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_reader.py
+++ b/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_reader.py
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 from moviepy.config import FFMPEG_BINARY  # ffmpeg, ffmpeg.exe, etc...
-from moviepy.tools import convert_to_seconds, cross_platform_popen_params
+from moviepy.tools import (
+    convert_to_seconds,
+    cross_platform_popen_params,
+    ffmpeg_escape_filename
+)
 
 
 class FFMPEG_VideoReader:
@@ -91,12 +95,12 @@ def initialize(self, start_time=0):
                 "-ss",
                 "%.06f" % (start_time - offset),
                 "-i",
-                self.filename,
+                ffmpeg_escape_filename(self.filename),
                 "-ss",
                 "%.06f" % offset,
             ]
         else:
-            i_arg = ["-i", self.filename]
+            i_arg = ["-i", ffmpeg_escape_filename(self.filename)]
 
         cmd = (
             [FFMPEG_BINARY]
@@ -801,7 +805,7 @@ def ffmpeg_parse_infos(
       https://github.com/Zulko/moviepy/pull/1222).
     """
     # Open the file in a pipe, read output
-    cmd = [FFMPEG_BINARY, "-hide_banner", "-i", filename]
+    cmd = [FFMPEG_BINARY, "-hide_banner", "-i", ffmpeg_escape_filename(filename)]
     if decode_file:
         cmd.extend(["-f", "null", "-"])
 
diff --git a/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_tools.py b/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_tools.py
index 610a8cc9c..926d07317 100644
--- a/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_tools.py
+++ b/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_tools.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from moviepy.config import FFMPEG_BINARY
 from moviepy.decorators import convert_parameter_to_seconds, convert_path_to_string
-from moviepy.tools import subprocess_call
+from moviepy.tools import subprocess_call, ffmpeg_escape_filename
 
 
 @convert_path_to_string(("inputfile", "outputfile"))
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def ffmpeg_extract_subclip(
         "-ss",
         "%0.2f" % start_time,
         "-i",
-        inputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(inputfile),
         "-t",
         "%0.2f" % (end_time - start_time),
         "-map",
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ def ffmpeg_extract_subclip(
         "-acodec",
         "copy",
         "-copyts",
-        outputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(outputfile),
     ]
     subprocess_call(cmd, logger=logger)
 
@@ -89,14 +89,14 @@ def ffmpeg_merge_video_audio(
         FFMPEG_BINARY,
         "-y",
         "-i",
-        audiofile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(audiofile),
         "-i",
-        videofile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(videofile),
         "-vcodec",
         video_codec,
         "-acodec",
         audio_codec,
-        outputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(outputfile),
     ]
 
     subprocess_call(cmd, logger=logger)
@@ -125,12 +125,12 @@ def ffmpeg_extract_audio(inputfile, outputfile, bitrate=3000, fps=44100, logger=
         FFMPEG_BINARY,
         "-y",
         "-i",
-        inputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(inputfile),
         "-ab",
         "%dk" % bitrate,
         "-ar",
         "%d" % fps,
-        outputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(outputfile),
     ]
     subprocess_call(cmd, logger=logger)
 
@@ -154,10 +154,10 @@ def ffmpeg_resize(inputfile, outputfile, size, logger="bar"):
     cmd = [
         FFMPEG_BINARY,
         "-i",
-        inputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(inputfile),
         "-vf",
         "scale=%d:%d" % (size[0], size[1]),
-        outputfile,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(outputfile),
     ]
 
     subprocess_call(cmd, logger=logger)
@@ -194,7 +194,16 @@ def ffmpeg_stabilize_video(
         outputfile = f"{name}_stabilized{ext}"
 
     outputfile = os.path.join(output_dir, outputfile)
-    cmd = [FFMPEG_BINARY, "-i", inputfile, "-vf", "deshake", outputfile]
+    cmd = [
+        FFMPEG_BINARY,
+        "-i",
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(inputfile),
+        "-vf",
+        "deshake",
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(outputfile)
+    ]
+
     if overwrite_file:
         cmd.append("-y")
+
     subprocess_call(cmd, logger=logger)
diff --git a/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_writer.py b/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_writer.py
index cbae415a0..e66cb488f 100644
--- a/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_writer.py
+++ b/moviepy/video/io/ffmpeg_writer.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from proglog import proglog
 
 from moviepy.config import FFMPEG_BINARY
-from moviepy.tools import cross_platform_popen_params
+from moviepy.tools import cross_platform_popen_params, ffmpeg_escape_filename
 
 
 class FFMPEG_VideoWriter:
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def __init__(
             "-",
         ]
         if audiofile is not None:
-            cmd.extend(["-i", audiofile, "-acodec", "copy"])
+            cmd.extend(["-i", ffmpeg_escape_filename(audiofile), "-acodec", "copy"])
         cmd.extend(["-vcodec", codec, "-preset", preset])
         if ffmpeg_params is not None:
             cmd.extend(ffmpeg_params)
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         if (codec == "libx264") and (size[0] % 2 == 0) and (size[1] % 2 == 0):
             cmd.extend(["-pix_fmt", "yuv420p"])
-        cmd.extend([filename])
+        cmd.extend([ffmpeg_escape_filename(filename)])
 
         popen_params = cross_platform_popen_params(
             {"stdout": sp.DEVNULL, "stderr": logfile, "stdin": sp.PIPE}
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ def ffmpeg_write_image(filename, image, logfile=False, pixel_format=None):
         pixel_format,
         "-i",
         "-",
-        filename,
+        ffmpeg_escape_filename(filename),
     ]
 
     if logfile:
diff --git a/tests/test_issues.py b/tests/test_issues.py
index ca61cc1f8..4bf46bd5e 100644
--- a/tests/test_issues.py
+++ b/tests/test_issues.py
@@ -360,5 +360,14 @@ def test_issue_1682_2(util):
     clip.write_audiofile(output_audio_filepath)
 
 
+def test_issue_2160(util):
+    filename = "media/-video-with-dash-.mp4"
+    clip = VideoFileClip(filename)
+    output_video_filepath = os.path.join(
+        util.TMP_DIR, "big_buck_bunny_0_30_cutout.webm"
+    )
+    clip.write_videofile(output_video_filepath)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     pytest.main()
diff --git a/tests/test_tools.py b/tests/test_tools.py
index 0e4e5807c..52cadf32d 100644
--- a/tests/test_tools.py
+++ b/tests/test_tools.py
@@ -65,6 +65,23 @@ def test_subprocess_call(command):
             tools.subprocess_call(command, logger=None)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "given, expected",
+    [
+        ("-filenamethatstartswithdash-.mp4", "./-filenamethatstartswithdash-.mp4"),
+        ("-path/that/starts/with/dash.mp4", "./-path/that/starts/with/dash.mp4"),
+        ("file-name-.mp4", "file-name-.mp4"),
+        ("/absolute/path/to/-file.mp4", "/absolute/path/to/-file.mp4"),
+        ("filename with spaces.mp4", "'filename with spaces.mp4'")
+    ],
+)
+def test_ffmpeg_escape_filename(given, expected):
+    """Test the ffmpeg_escape_filename function outputs correct paths as per
+    the docstring.
+    """
+    assert tools.ffmpeg_escape_filename(given) == expected
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("os_name", (os.name, "nt"))
 def test_cross_platform_popen_params(os_name, monkeypatch):
     tools_module = importlib.import_module("moviepy.tools")