Danishka Esterhazy

Danishka Esterhazy is a Canadian screenwriter and film director. She is best known for her thriller and horror movies, such as Black Field, Level 16 (2018), The Banana Splits Movie (2019), and the Slumber Party Massacre (2021) remake.

Career Esterhazy is well known for her haunting stories and female-driven films. Her debut feature, Black Field, won the Best Feature Drama award at Vancouver's Women in Film Festival and the Best Canadian Feature award at Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival.

Esterhazy's films have screened in festivals and theaters and around the world including the Rome International Film Festival, the Puchon International Film Festival in South Korea, the Short Film Festival of India, La Maison Rouge in Paris and Kölner Filmhaus in Germany.

Her films have been broadcast on CBC Television, Bravo and Super Channel. Danishka is also a recipient of the Kodak New Vision Award for Most Promising Female Canadian Director awarded by Women in Film and Television Toronto. She also won the UBC Creative Writing Award for Best Screenplay at the 2015 Vancouver International Women in Film Festival.

She won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction in a TV Movie at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022, for I Was Lorena Bobbitt.

Education Esterhazy graduated from the Canadian Film Centre and the National Screen Institute.

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor DoP 2002 Embowered 2004 Threefold 2005 The Snow Queen 2006 Protection 2009 The Red Hood Infectious 2012 Fallen

Feature film Year Title Director Writer Producer 2003 Endings 2009 Black Field 2010 Suddenly Ever After 2011 The Trials of Rasputin 2013 H and G 2018 Level 16 2019 The Banana Splits Movie 2021 Slumber Party Massacre 2024 Killer Body Count 2025 Sniper: The Last Stand 2025 Match 2026 Remember Me

Television Year Title Director ExecutiveProducer Notes 2001 Bullies – Not Cool! Also editor 2011 Where the Funny Comes From 2020 Vagrant Queen Episodes "Nobody's Queen" and "In a Sticky Spot" I Was Lorena Bobbitt TV movie 2021–present SurrealEstate Directed 5 episodes 2022 Astrid & Lilly Save the World 2023 Ginny & Georgia 2 episodes

Awards 2010 Female Eye Film Festival Best Canadian Feature for: Black Field 2013 Women in Film and Television International Most Promising Female Canadian Director