John Kastner (1946 – November 21, 2019) was a four-time Emmy Award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker whose later work focused on the Canadian criminal justice system. His films included the documentaries '' Out of Mind, Out of Sight'' (2014), a film about patients at the Brockville Mental Health Centre, named best Canadian feature documentary at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

; '' NCR: Not Criminally Responsible'' (2013), exploring the personal impact of the

mental disorder defence The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the ...

in Canada; ''Life with Murder'' (2010), ''The Lifer and the Lady'' and ''Parole Dance'', and the 1986 made-for-television drama ''

Turning to Stone ''Turning to Stone'' is a Canadian docudrama television film, which was broadcast by CBC Television in 1986.Gerald Pratley, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 226. Directed by Eric Till and written by Judith Thompson, the fi ...

'', set in the

Prison for Women The Prison For Women ("P4W"; french: Prison des femmes), located in Kingston, Ontario, was a Correctional Service of Canada prison for women that functioned at a maximum security level from 1934 to 2000. Background The first female inmates ar ...

in Kingston, Ontario.

Filmography

Director

* ''Sharing the Secret'' (1981) * ''The Lifer and the Lady'' (1984) * ''Hunting Bobby Oatway'' (1997) * ''Rage Against the Darkness'' (2004) * ''Monster in the Family'' (2007) * '' Life with Murder'' (2010) * '' NCR: Not Criminally Responsible'' (2013) * '' Out of Mind, Out of Sight'' (2014) * '' Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets'' (2016)

Non-documentary work

Early in his career, Kastner occasionally took a break from making documentary films on serious topics with lighter fare, which included co-hosting a short-lived children's series for

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

in the early 1980s, ''Just Kidding'', as well as doing comedy segments for the

CBC-TV CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

late-night talk show '' 90 Minutes Live''. In 1986, he produced the dramatic television film ''

'', adapted from some of the interviews with women prisoners he had conducted while making ''The Parole Dance'' and ''The Lifer and the Lady''.Sid Adilman, "Movie dramatizes horrors of prison". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', February 21, 1986. A child actor, Kastner's first screenwriting credit came in 1983, when he co-wrote '' The Terry Fox Story'', starring Robert Duvall.

Awards and honours

Kaster won four Emmy Awards. He won International Emmys for his 1978 film ''Four Women'', a look at breast cancer for the

investigative news series '' The Fifth Estate''; the 1980 documentary ''Fighting Back'', about young people with leukemia; and the 2011 film ''Life With Murder''. He also received a News & Documentary Emmy Award for ''The Lifer and the Lady''. ''Life with Murder'' also won the Donald Brittain Award for best social/political documentary at the

2011 Gemini Awards The 26th Gemini Awards was held on September 7, 2011 to honour achievements in Canadian television. The ceremony was broadcast live from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, and aired on CBC Television. The show was hosted by Russell Pe ...

, a Special Jury Prize at the Houston Worldfest Film Festival and the awards for Best Political Documentary and Special Achievement in Directing at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Lifetime achievement awards

Kastner received the Academy Achievement Award at the 22nd annual

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States a ...

, for his contributions to Canadian television journalism. In 2012, he was the subject of a "Focus On" retrospective at the

Personal life

He was the brother of actor

Peter Kastner Peter Kastner (1 October 1943 – 18 September 2008) was a Canadian-born actor who achieved prominence as a disaffected youth in movies of the 1960s. Life and career Kastner was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Rose and Martin Kastner. His ...

.Martin Knelma
"Peter Kastner, 64: Actor recalled for role as rebel"
''Toronto Star'', 20 September 2008. The Rick Salutin article in the ''Globe and Mail'' takes issue with this obituary. Their nephew

Jamie Kastner Jamie Kastner is a Canadian writer, director and documentary filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. His company, Cave 7 Productions, produces both theatrical and television productions. Kastner is best known for his feature documentaries, including ...

is also a documentary filmmaker."Carrying on the Kastner family business"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', May 2, 2014.

References

External links

*
John Kastner's blog
at '' The Huffington Post''
John Kastner fonds
a
The Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, York University Libraries, York University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kastner, John 1946 births 2019 deaths Canadian documentary film directors Canadian male child actors Canadian Screen Award winners International Emmy Award winners Film directors from Toronto Jewish Canadian filmmakers