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David Gatten: Texts of Light
David Gatten's filmmaking practice is unique in American cinema. His passion for historical documents, rare books, and arcane or outmoded manuals has resulted in a body of finely crafted work that explores the intersection of the printed word and the moving image in unusual ways. Using traditional research methods (reading old books) and nontraditional film technique (boiling old books), he manages to connect categories of knowledge in unexpected ways. Known for his ongoing Byrd family chronicle, an account of the 18th-century Virginia family, Gatten's appearances at the National Gallery's midcareer retrospective offer a rare opportunity to discuss in person his handcrafted experimental 16 mm processes.

January 21, 2:30pm
Secret History of the Dividing Line, a True Account in Nine Parts: Parts I-IV
David Gatten in person
This cycle of films centers around one of the largest and most famous libraries of colonial America, that of William Byrd II. (After Byrd's death, most of the volumes were purchased by Thomas Jefferson and later formed the basis for the Library of Congress's holdings.) In this first program, Gatten offers glimpses into lost worlds through text, images, and biographical writings in films such as The Great Art of Knowing (2004), and The Enjoyment of Reading (Lost and Found) (2001). (16 mm, total running time 101 minutes)

January 21, 4:30pm
Four Films toward Part V of Secret History of the Dividing Line, a True Account in Nine Parts
David Gatten in person
This program includes a set of studies or intact stand-alone sections for Gatten's epic, years-in-the-making forthcoming feature film. The program includes The Matter Propounded, of its Possibility or Impossibility, Treated in Four Parts (2011), How to Conduct a Love Affair (2007), So Sure of Nowhere Buying Times to Come (2010), and Film for Invisible Ink, Case No. 323: Once Upon a Time in the West (2010). (16 mm, total running time 50 minutes)

January 22, 4:30pm
Silent Mountains, Singing Oceans, and Slivers of Time
David Gatten in person
The final program features pairs of films from three other ongoing "non-secret history" series: The Continuous Quantities is structured on Leonardo's proposition to divide an hour into 3,000 equal parts and offers the most kinetic exploration yet of Gatten's inquiries into the relationship between text and image. The Invisible Ink series, as the title implies, employs the most minimal imagery to be found in Gatten's films. The two films in the series What the Water Said are among the most acclaimed experimental works of recent years. (16 mm, total running time 67 minutes)