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).
115 acting credits · 12 directing credits
Acting · 115
Tereza Batista
1992
Eclipse
2026
Era Preciso Voltar
1969
The Red Light Bandit
1968
Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
2003
The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus
2023
Candango: Memoirs from a Festival
2020
Scent of Gardenias
1992
Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes
1971
Brazilian Cinema in the 20th Century
2017
Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
1997
Face to Face
1967
Hotel Atlântico
2009
Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
2012
Not Even God Is As Fair As Your Jeans
2025
My Calendar Girl
2018
Nosferatu
2025
Memórias do Grupo Opinião
2019
Embodiment of Evil
2008
Copacabana Mon Amour
1970
A Grande Feira
1961
Oswaldianas
1992
Flying Geraldo
1994
Assault on the Pay Train
1962
Natureza Morta
2020
São Jerônimo
1999
Love Film Festival
2014
The Sign of Chaos
2003
The Priest and the Girl
1966
Abry
2003
Baron Olavo, The Horrible
1969
Watch Out, Madame
1970
Retrato da Terra
2004
Gravidade
2025
Flesh
2019
Mulher Oceano
2020
A Vermelha Luz do Bandido
2009
The Lady Who Died in the Trailer
2020
Fakir
2019
Meu Mundo em Perigo
2007
The Woman of Everyone
1969
Carnaval na Lama
1970
Copacabana, Mon Amour: A Restauração
2014
It's Not All True
1986
Terno
2013
The Hullabaloo Family
1970
Mulheres de Cinema
1978
Belair
2009
The Good Cinema
2021
Estátua!
2014
All Paulos in the World - Paulo José
2017
If I'm Here It Is by Mystery
2024
O Desmonte do Monte
2018
Extracts
2019
Rio de Topless
2020
The Mother
2022
Benjamim Zambraia e o Autopanóptico
2020
Bring me the Head of Carmen M.
2019
The Monsters of Babaloo
1970
Primavera nos Dentes – A História do Secos & Molhados
2025
Helena Zero
2006
Ralé: The Lower Depths
2016
Avacalha e se Esculhamba
2010
Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz
2012
A Mulher da Luz Própria
2019
B2
2001
The Outsiders
1968
A Man and His Cage
1974
A Film to Remind Us of Utopia
—
Febre
2017
O Engano
1967
Venus – Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy
2017
The Welles Raft
2022
A Miss e o Dinossauro
2005
No Way, Spider
1970
Deuses da Peste
2025
O Pátio
1959
Spray Jet
1986
Sinais de Cinza, A Peleja de Olney Contra o Dragão da Maldade
2013
The End of an Age
2014
A Balada do Provisório
2012
Subterrânea
2021
Perigo Negro
1992
Ugly, Me?
2013
Race Antenna
2020
Nelson Carneiro: Knight of Democracy
2023
Inaudito
2017
A Bela P...
2008
A Última Vanguarda
2024
Ossos
2014
Joy Is the Acid Test
2023
Antes do Fim
2018
In Memoriam: O Roteiro do Gravador
2019
Um Documentário Brasileiro
2021
Trópico de Leão
2025
Lost Media
—
Luz-Lux-Lúcia
2005
Reinvenção da Rua
2003
O Mel é Mais Doce Que o Sangue
2023
Flesh
—
O Cinema Foi à Feira
2016
Um Intruso no Paraíso
1973
Grito da Terra
1964
Helena! Cinema!
2026
Poder dos Afetos
2013
Paixão e Virtude
2014
Helena de Guaratiba
2023
Ensaio Sobre o Fracasso
2020
Desculpa, Dona Madama
2013
Nova Pasta, Antigo Baú
2021
Esse fim de semana vou me dedicar as paredes
2020
Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral
2020
Anônimo e incomum
1990
Message from Sergipe
2025
Cartas Para Rian
2026
Directing · 12
Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
2012
My Calendar Girl
2018
Fakir
2019
Canção de Baal
2007
Ralé: The Lower Depths
2016
A Miss e o Dinossauro
2005
Ugly, Me?
2013
Ossos
2014
Joy Is the Acid Test
2023
Reinvenção da Rua
2003
Poder dos Afetos
2013
Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral
2020