Helena Ignez
Helena Ignez (Salvador, May 23, 1939) is a Brazilian actress and filmmaker.
Helena was born in Salvador, Bahia and was attending her second year of law school when she fell in love with theater and decided to study the Dramatic Arts at the Federal University of Bahia. At the time, the Bahian theater scene was breaking with traditional Brazilian theater and experiencing strong influence from the young vanguard. She first appeared on the screen in Glauber Rocha's short film "Pátio".
Helena acted in a few films associated with the Cinema Novo movement, such as "A Grande Feira" (1961), "Assalto ao Trem Pagador" (1962), and "O Padre e a Moça" (1966) before playing Janete Jane in O Bandido da Luz Vermelha by Rogério Sganzerla. After this film, she would perform in some most significant films in the Cinema Marginal movement, which directly opposed the critically acclaimed Cinema Novo -- the most remarkable being her role as Ângela Carne e "Osso in A Mulher de Todos" (1969).
She also was a financial partner of Rogério Sganzerla and fellow Cinema Marginal filmmaker Júlio Bressane in the short-lived, although prolific, Belair production company. Between 1968 and 1970, Sganzerla and Ignez made almost a dozen films together and were also married and had two children -- one of which would become actress Djin Sganzerla.
As a filmmaker, Ignez has directed 7 films, the most notable being "Luz das Trevas" (2010), a sequel to Sganzerla's debut feature "O Bandido da Luz Vermelha" (1968).
Acting
Movie
The Red Light Bandit
as Janete Jane
1968
Movie
Embodiment of Evil
as Cabíria
2008
Movie
The Priest and the Girl
as Mariana
1966
Movie
Assault on the Pay Train
as Marta
1962
Movie
Copacabana Mon Amour
as Sônia Silk
1970
Movie
The Woman of Everyone
as Ângela Carne e Osso
1969
Movie
No Way, Spider
1970
Movie
O Pátio
as The woman
1959
Movie
The Sign of Chaos
as Guida
2003
Movie
Hotel Atlântico
as Dona da Pousada
2009
Movie
Face to Face
as Luciana
1967
Movie
Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes
as Multiple Characters (Archive Footage)
1971
Movie
The Monsters of Babaloo
1970
Movie
Flesh
as (voice)
2019
Movie
A Grande Feira
as Ely
1961
Movie
Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
as Self
2003
Movie
It's Not All True
1986
Movie
Baron Olavo, The Horrible
as Isabel
1969
Movie
Watch Out, Madame
1970
Movie
Paixão e Virtude
2014
Movie
Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
2012
Movie
Scent of Gardenias
as Bandida
1992
Movie
São Jerônimo
as Marcela
1999
Movie
Ralé: The Lower Depths
as Sonia Silk
2016
Crew
Movie
O Pátio
Co-Producer
1959
Movie
Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
Director
2012
Movie
Ralé: The Lower Depths
Director
2016
Movie
My Calendar Girl
Director
2018
Movie
A Miss e o Dinossauro
Director
2005
Movie
Ossos
Producer
2014
Movie
Canção de Baal
Director
2007
Movie
Ugly, Me?
Director
2013
Movie
Poder dos Afetos
Director
2013
Movie
América: O Grande Acerto de Vespúcio
Editor
1992
Movie
Joy Is the Acid Test
Director
2023
Movie
Fakir
Director
2019