Toronto’s Raven Banner Entertainment has acquired the Canadian rights to writer/director Danishka Esterhazy’s NSI Features First-developed film Level 16.

On March 1, the film will be released theatrically in Canada by Raven Banner and in the US by Dark Sky Films.

The film won awards at Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival in Toronto in December. Danishka was named best director and rising star, while her writing on the film won her best screenplay.

Level 16 celebrated its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin and has screened at a number of festivals including Vancouver International Film Festival.

In a prison-like boarding school, two sixteen year-old girls struggle to find the reasons for their imprisonment and a means of escape.

Read an interview with Danishka on the feminism of Level 16 and the journey it took for her to make it at Live For Film.

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NSI Features First provides development training for writer/producer teams looking to produce their first or second feature film with strong commercial appeal. Over 20 feature films developed through the program have been produced since 1997.

NSI Features First is funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; Provincial Sponsor Creative BC through the Daryl Duke and William Vince Scholarship Fund; and Industry Supporters William F. White and Deluxe. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.