Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection world premiere
The fascinating new documentary from AMS Pictures, Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection, celebrating the life and music of the 1970s pop icon, has its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
She’d only just begun. Forty years after her death, this captivating, revealing, and unvarnished documentary provides astounding new insight into the singer’s tragically short life and enduring musical legacy.
The film features interview with iconic figures such as Olivia Newton-John, Cynthia Gibb, Suzanne Somers, Kristin Chenoweth, Carnie Wilson, Bob James, Carol Burnett, Belinda Carlisle, Cubby O’Brien, Tom Nolan, Karen Tongson, Cherry Boone O’Neill, Louis Virtel, Randy Schmidt, Barry Morrow, Frankie Chavez, Doug Haverty, Maria Galeazzi, and Mike Curb.
Karen Carpenter was the first in a long line of celebrities to suffer from an eating disorder during an era when the vastly misunderstood disease brought shame and public humiliation. For the first time, we hear Karen Carpenter’s personal struggle in her own voice through never-before released recordings and through the legendary voices of those who knew her and were inspired by her music. As the #1 American musical act of the 1970s, the Carpenters were on “top of the world,” producing a string of pop masterpieces, including “Close to You,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.” But behind closed doors, Karen’s quest for perfection resulted in low self-esteem, a disheartening love life, and a public battle with anorexia nervosa, which ended with her untimely death at the age of only 32. Forty years after her death comes Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection, a captivating, revealing, and unvarnished documentary providing astounding new insight into the singer’s tragically short life and enduring musical legacy.
Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection comes from an acclaimed filmmaking team: Director Randy Martin (The Sundance Channel series “The Inspiration Sessions,” “Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey”), Producer & Writer Randy Schmidt (bestselling author of the 2010 national bestseller “Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter,” “Judy Garland on Judy Garland: Interviews and Encounters”), Producer & Editor Brad Osborne (“Tom Petty: Won’t Back Down,” “Shania Twain: The Price of Fame”), and Executive Producers Carnie Wilson (the multi Billboard 100 charting and Grammy Nominated pop band “Wilson Phillips”) and Andy Streitfeld (“I Was Lorena Bobbitt,” “A Defining Moment: Four Tuskegee Airmen and the Inauguration of Barack Obama”).
The film will have its world premiere in-person on Friday, February 10th, 2023 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the Metro 4 (618 State Street).
What: Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) World Premiere of the Documentary Feature Film Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection
Screening followed by Filmmaker and Cast Q&A: 8:20pm
Location: Metro Theatre: Metro 4, Screen 2, 618 State Street. Santa Barbara, CA 93101
