John Kastner (April 6, 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 Jun ...

; '' 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 Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

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

CBC-TV CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) 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, 195 ...

late-night talk show ''

90 Minutes Live ''90 Minutes Live'' was a Canadian television late-night talk show, which aired on CBC Television from April 19, 1976, to May 12, 1978. The program aired weekday evenings at 11:30 p.m. Hosted by Peter Gzowski, the program was patterned after ...

''. In 1986, he produced the dramatic television film '' Turning to Stone'', 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. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', February 21, 1986. A child actor, Kastner's first screenwriting credit came in 1983, when he co-wrote ''

The Terry Fox Story ''The Terry Fox Story'' is a 1983 Canadian-American biographical film of Canadian amputee and runner Terry Fox. It was written by Howard Hume, John Kastner and Rose Kastner, and directed by Ralph L. Thomas. The film stars Eric Fryer as Fox, C ...

'', starring

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

Awards and honours

Kastner won four Emmy Awards. He won

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sc ...

s 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 The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Scien ...

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 Pet ...

, 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 The Academy Achievement Award is an award presented by the Canadian Gemini Awards to an individual for their "exceptional, outstanding or ongoing contribution or service to the Canadian television industry." It is presented at the discretion of th ...

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 English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

, 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 actor who achieved prominence as a young man in lead roles in the popular 1964 film '' Nobody Waved Good-bye'' and in Francis Ford Coppola's 1966 well-received comedy ''You're ...

.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 Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', May 2, 2014.

References

External links

*
John Kastner's blog
at ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''
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 winning writers International Emmy Award winners Film directors from Toronto Jewish Canadian screenwriters