Helena Ignez
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Helena Ignez

Acting

Biography

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).

Films Featuring Helena Ignez

Luz-Lux-Lúcia

2005

Joy Is the Acid Test

2023

The Good Cinema

2021

Embodiment of Evil

20085.3

Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional

1997

The Mother

20228.5

O Pátio

19596.8

O Mel é Mais Doce Que o Sangue

20236.0

The Priest and the Girl

19667.0

The Rowdy Family

19706.0

The Woman of Everyone

19697.8

Copacabana Mon Amour

19707.3

The Sign of Chaos

20037.2

Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes

19717.5

A Grande Feira

19618.4

It's Not All True

19866.9

A Balada do Provisório

A Balada do Provisório

20122.3

No way, Spider

19706.2

Hotel Atlântico

20097.1

Helena de Guaratiba

2023

Baron Olavo, The Horrible

19706.0

Face to Face

19675.5

Meu Mundo em Perigo

20075.7

Watch Out, Madame

19706.3

Assault on the Pay Train

19628.0

Not Even God Is As Fair As Your Jeans

20259.7

The End of an Age

20147.5

Paixão e Virtude

20144.2

Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth

20036.3

Love Film Festival

20147.5

B2

20016.0

O Engano

19679.0

The Red Light Bandit

19687.7

Oswaldianas

19929.0

Spray Jet

19869.0

Grito da Terra

19649.0

Rio de Topless

2020

A Última Vanguarda

2024

Scent of Gardenias

19926.6

Memórias do Grupo Opinião

2019

Nelson Carneiro: Knight of Democracy

2023

São Jerônimo

19997.0

Retrato da Terra

2004

Carnaval na Lama

Carnaval na Lama

19708.0

The Outsiders

19689.0

If I'm Here It Is by Mystery

2024

Abry

200310.0

The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus

20239.0

Ralé: The Lower Depths

20165.4

Sinais de Cinza, A Peleja de Olney Contra o Dragão da Maldade

Sinais de Cinza, A Peleja de Olney Contra o Dragão da Maldade

20138.0

Helena Zero

Helena Zero

2006

Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz

20123.5

A Miss e o Dinossauro

20055.0

A Man and His Cage

19745.8

O Cinema Foi à Feira

O Cinema Foi à Feira

2016

Anônimo e incomum

19906.0

Avacalha e se Esculhamba

2010

Febre

201710.0

Antes do Fim

20185.8

My Calendar Girl

20182.0

All Paulos in the World - Paulo José

20177.4

The Monsters of Babaloo

19706.9

Mulheres de Cinema

197810.0

Flying Geraldo

1994

Venus – Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy

20173.0

Terno

2013

Copacabana, Mon Amour: A Restauração

2014

A Mulher da Luz Própria

20198.0

Flesh

20197.0

A Vermelha Luz do Bandido

2009

The Welles Raft

2022

Extracts

2019

Estátua!

20146.0

O Desmonte do Monte

20185.0

Ensaio Sobre o Fracasso

20208.0

Natureza Morta

20204.7

Ossos

20142.3

Poder dos Afetos

2013

Reinvenção da Rua

2003

Bring me the Head of Carmen M.

20198.0

A Bela P...

2008

Esse fim de semana vou me dedicar as paredes

2020

Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral

2020

Perigo Negro

19927.0

Brazilian Cinema in the 20th Century

2017

In Memoriam: O Roteiro do Gravador

2019

Race Antenna

20208.2

Desculpa, Dona Madama

2013

Candango: Memoirs from a Festival

20205.0

Mulher Oceano

20204.0

Ugly, Me?

20135.0

Subterrânea

2021

The Lady Who Died in the Trailer

20206.0

Inaudito

20176.2

Um Documentário Brasileiro

2021

Nova Pasta, Antigo Baú

2021

Benjamim Zambraia e o Autopanóptico

2020

Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit

20125.2

Um Intruso no Paraíso

19737.0

Belair

2009

Flesh

Flesh

Trópico de Leão

2025

Deuses da Peste

2025

Fakir

2019

Gravidade

2025

Message from Sergipe

2025

Eclipse

2026

Nosferatu

20251.0

Lost Media

A Film to Remind Us of Utopia

2026

Helena! Cinema!

2026

Cartas Para Rian

2026

Notícias do Fim do Mundo

2019

Pioneiras do Cinema

2026

As Florestas da Noite

2026

América do Sol

2026