Toronto's multidisciplinary Images Festival kicks off 20th edition

The Images Festival, Toronto's annual celebration of indie and experimental video, performance and installation art, kicks off its 20th edition Thursday.

The 10-day event features programming including more than 130 film, video, installation, new media and performance artworks as well as panels and discussions presented at more than two dozen venues in downtown Toronto.

The work featured this year was created in a variety of media, from photo slideshows to 16mm film to digital video. The artists showcased also represent a range: from high profile names such as Guy Maddin, Michael Snow and Janet Cardiff to local, emerging student artists.

Among Thursday's opening night events is the North American premiere of Babette Mangolte's documentary Seven Easy Pieces by Marina Abramovic, which explores the series of performances the veteran artist gave at New York's Guggenheim Museum in November 2005.

The 20th annual Images Festival ends April 14.