Quick Facts
Biography
John Kastner is a four-time Emmy Award winning Canadian documentary filmmaker whose recent work has focused on the Canadian criminal justice system. His films include 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; NCR: Not Criminally Responsible (2013), exploring the personal impact of the mental disorder defence in Canada; Life with Murder (2010), The Lifer and the Lady and Parole Dance, and the 1986 made-for-television drama Turning to Stone, set in the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario.
Filmography
Director
- Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets (2016)
- Out of Mind, Out of Sight (2014)
- NCR: Not Criminally Responsible (2013)
- Life with Murder (2010)
- Monster in the Family (2007)
- Rage Against the Darkness (2004)
- Hunting Bobby Oatway (1997)
- The Lifer and the Lady (1984)
- Sharing the Secret (1981)
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 in the early 1980s, Just Kidding, as well as doing comedy segments for the CBC-TV late-night talk show 90 Minutes Live.
A former 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 has won four Emmy Awards. He won International Emmys for his 1978 film Four Women, a look at breast cancer for the CBC-TV investigative news series The Fifth Estate; the 1980 documentary Fighting Back, about young people with leukemia; and most recently, 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, 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, for his contributions to Canadian television journalism. In 2012, he was the subject of a “Focus On” retrospective at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
Personal life
He is the brother of actor Peter Kastner.