Directing

John Kastner

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Turning to Stone poster
4.0

Alison Campbell was sentenced to seven years after trying to smuggle drugs into Canada. This hard-hitting film tells the story of how she survived the prison system,and sacrificed herself to protect her inmates and saved her own sanity.

Turning to Stone

1985

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible poster
7.0

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible tells the story of a troubled young man who stabbed a complete stranger 6 times in a crowded shopping mall while gripped by psychosis. Twelve years later, his victim, who miraculously survived, is terrified to learn that he's out, living in the community under supervision. He's applying for an absolute discharge, and if he succeeds, he'll no longer be required to take the anti-psychotic drugs that control his mental illness. With unprecedented access to the patient, the victim, and the mental institution, the film looks at both sides of the debate and puts a human face on the complex ethical issues raised.

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible

2013

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible poster
7.0

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible tells the story of a troubled young man who stabbed a complete stranger 6 times in a crowded shopping mall while gripped by psychosis. Twelve years later, his victim, who miraculously survived, is terrified to learn that he's out, living in the community under supervision. He's applying for an absolute discharge, and if he succeeds, he'll no longer be required to take the anti-psychotic drugs that control his mental illness. With unprecedented access to the patient, the victim, and the mental institution, the film looks at both sides of the debate and puts a human face on the complex ethical issues raised.

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible

2013

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible poster
7.0

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible tells the story of a troubled young man who stabbed a complete stranger 6 times in a crowded shopping mall while gripped by psychosis. Twelve years later, his victim, who miraculously survived, is terrified to learn that he's out, living in the community under supervision. He's applying for an absolute discharge, and if he succeeds, he'll no longer be required to take the anti-psychotic drugs that control his mental illness. With unprecedented access to the patient, the victim, and the mental institution, the film looks at both sides of the debate and puts a human face on the complex ethical issues raised.

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible

2013

Out of Mind, Out of Sight poster
5.7

Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

2014

Out of Mind, Out of Sight poster
5.7

Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

2014

Sharing the Secret poster
4.0

In Canada, six men talk about their homosexual experiences, revealing feelings, attitudes, social prejudice and family pressures. They are men from different social classes and age groups: from a well-off young man who has just revealed his sexual orientation to his family, to an experienced 40-year-old businessman who, after having lived a double life for several years, decides to assume his homosexuality .

Sharing the Secret

1981

No artwork available
NR

A story of the resilience and determination of a group of children in London, Ont., battling leukemia at a time when no child had survived the disease.

Fighting Back

1979

No artwork available
NR

He was a convicted murderer. She was a prison volunteer. They fell in love. Frontline follows the story of Ron Cooney, who tries to work his way through the prison system to parole from a life sentence, and Lesley Earl, the woman who wants to help him go straight.

The Lifer and The Lady

1985

No artwork available
NR

He was a convicted murderer. She was a prison volunteer. They fell in love. Frontline follows the story of Ron Cooney, who tries to work his way through the prison system to parole from a life sentence, and Lesley Earl, the woman who wants to help him go straight.

The Lifer and The Lady

1985

No artwork available
NR

He was a convicted murderer. She was a prison volunteer. They fell in love. Frontline follows the story of Ron Cooney, who tries to work his way through the prison system to parole from a life sentence, and Lesley Earl, the woman who wants to help him go straight.

The Lifer and The Lady

1985

Life with Murder poster
6.2

Chatham, Ontario, 1998. Eighteen-year-old Jennifer Jenkins is brutally shot to death by multiple rifle rounds in her family home. The main suspect: her brother, Mason Jenkins, who fled the scene of the crime.

Life with Murder

2010

Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets poster
NR

In Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets, a film within a film and sequel to the acclaimed documentary NCR: Not Criminally Responsible from 4-time Emmy-winner John Kastner, a wedding is born of a terrible act of violence. The new film shows how the lives of six of the people involved in the original one were dramatically transformed. Two of them are marrying each other.

Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets

Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets poster
NR

In Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets, a film within a film and sequel to the acclaimed documentary NCR: Not Criminally Responsible from 4-time Emmy-winner John Kastner, a wedding is born of a terrible act of violence. The new film shows how the lives of six of the people involved in the original one were dramatically transformed. Two of them are marrying each other.

Not Criminally Responsible: Wedding Secrets

No artwork available
NR

In 'Gert's Secret' a 102-year-old superstar is born: Gert Stevenson is a happy survivor in one of society's unhappiest institutions: a nursing home. While other residents struggle to survive, Gert -- one of the most delightful characters to light up any screen -- has learned the art of living well. What is her secret?

Gert's Secret

2004

No artwork available
NR

In 'Gert's Secret' a 102-year-old superstar is born: Gert Stevenson is a happy survivor in one of society's unhappiest institutions: a nursing home. While other residents struggle to survive, Gert -- one of the most delightful characters to light up any screen -- has learned the art of living well. What is her secret?

Gert's Secret

2004