Gary performed the European premiere of his live solo score to Buñuel's 1962 classic surrealist masterpiece "El Angel Exterminador" at Sala BBK in Bilbao Spain Jan. 27, 2019. The show was a Pick in El Correo!

On December 8th 2011, by invitation of the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, GARY LUCAS presented the world premiere of his new live solo guitar score accompanying Luis Bunuel's classic 1962 surrealist film "El Angel Exterminador" (The Exterminating Angel) at the 23 y 12 Cinema in Havana Cuba as part of the 33rd Havana Film Festival.

For three years in a row Gary has presented a world premiere of a new live film score at the Havana Film Festival. He began in 2009 debuting his live score for the legendary 1931 Spanish "Dracula" (d. George Melford)...and then again in 2010 he premiered his new live score for Jose Mojica Marins (a/k/a Coffin Joe)'s "Esta Noite Encarnerei no teu Cadaver" (This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse).

See an excellent review by jazz critic Jim Macnie of the US premiere of Gary's live score for Luis Bunuel's surrealist masterpiece at visionary artist's space Pioneer Works in Red Hook Brooklyn Fri. 3/18/16.

"The guitarist ups the ante on the director's art. Lucas has been refining his approach to film accompaniment for decades—don't miss his pas de deux with The Golem it the opportunity arises—and the nuanced way he wiggles his strings into the on-screen emotions is pretty damn impressive. He stands outside the piece as an observer, formally commenting on the action, but the real trick is how well the music is embedded into the scenes. By the time the group’s desperation reaches its provocative peak, it feels like Lucas’ insights have helped them turn the key. This was the US premiere (Cuban fans heard it in 2011); fingers crossed that there are many more performances."
—Jim Macnie, longtime jazz critic in his "Lament for a Straight Line" column 3/22/16

Gary has always loved the work of the master Luis Bunuel—his favorite director—and surrealism in general, and has previously composed live scores to accompany short surrealist silent classics by Rene Clair, Fernand Leger and Ladislaw Starewicz, commissioned by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2000. In this film, like Spanish "Dracula" Gary Lucas has a veritable blank slate to compose on sonically as the majority of the film consists of dialogue in Spanish only, with only two short piano cues by Raul Lavista occurring in the film.

Read an interview with Gary about the project from the Diario del Festival of the Havana Film Festival 12/9/11.

View a clip from the world premiere of Gary Lucas' new live score at the 33rd Havana Film Festival 12/8/11: