The film “Greetings from Tim Buckley,” which stars Penn Badgley and was filmed throughout Brooklyn Heights in August 2011, made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this week. The biopic tells the story of folkie Jeff Buckley’s preparation for an April 1991 concert at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights, in honor of his father—1960s singer/songwriter Tim Buckley, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 28. Jeff died in 1997, at 30, in a drowning accident.
The flick revolves around a dramatized account of Jeff overcoming insecurities as a musician and feelings for his absentee father. In a Rolling Stone interview, director Daniel Algrant says, “The concert is true; the rest is fictionalized and conjecture.” Tim Buckley’s music is featured prominently, while Algrant replicates the concert in real time, with real musicians, at the original church. Much of the filming last August took place inside St. Ann, as well as shots on Clinton Street at Montague Street; and Livingston Street between Court & Adams streets.
Penn Badgley is no stranger to Brooklyn Heights. He played a regular role in “Gossip Girl” and co-starred in “Margin Call,” both filmed in the neighborhood. (Photo: Rolling Stone)
