
Person
Helena Ignez
Acting · Born 1939-05-23 · Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
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).
Known for
O Cinema Foi à Feira
Ela mesma

Antes do Fim
2018

Hotel Atlântico
Dona da Pousada

Lost Media
A Colecionadora

Oswaldianas
1992

Subterrânea
Senhora Ônibus

Tereza Batista
Maricota

Estátua!
Mãe (voz)

Ralé: The Lower Depths
Sonia Silk

Canção de Baal
Director
Filmography
- 2026A Film to Remind Us of UtopiaSelf (archive footage)
- 2026EclipseDona da Kitnet
- 2026Cartas Para RianNair de Tefé
- 2026Helena! Cinema!
- 2025Primavera nos Dentes – A História do Secos & MolhadosSelf
- 2025Nosferatu
- 2025Gravidade
- 2025Message from Sergipe
- 2025Trópico de LeãoMedéia
- 2025Not Even God Is As Fair As Your JeansDra. Marina Consiglio
- 2025Deuses da Peste
- 2024A Última VanguardaSelf
- 2024If I'm Here It Is by MysteryArlete
- 2023Nelson Carneiro: Knight of DemocracySelf
- 2023Helena de GuaratibaHelena
- 2023O Mel é Mais Doce Que o Sangue
- 2023The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus
- 2023Joy Is the Acid TestJarda Ícone
- 2022The MotherDulce
- 2022The Welles RaftHerself
- 2021Nova Pasta, Antigo BaúVoiceover
- 2021Um Documentário BrasileiroSelf
- 2021The Good Cinema
- 2021SubterrâneaSenhora Ônibus
- 2020Benjamim Zambraia e o AutopanópticoMother
- 2020Candango: Memoirs from a FestivalSelf
- 2020Mulher OceanoMulher Caminhando de Costas (uncredited)
- 2020Race AntennaSelf
- 2020The Lady Who Died in the Trailer
- 2020Esse fim de semana vou me dedicar as paredes
- 2020Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral
- 2020Ensaio Sobre o Fracasso
- 2020Natureza MortaNarradora 3
- 2020Rio de ToplessSelf
- 2019Extracts
- 2019Notícias do Fim do Mundo
- 2019Flesh(voice)
- 2019FakirNarrator
- 2019In Memoriam: O Roteiro do Gravador
- 2019A Mulher da Luz PrópriaSelf
- 2019Memórias do Grupo OpiniãoSelf (archive footage)
- 2019Bring me the Head of Carmen M.Diretora
- 2018My Calendar GirlHelena / Palestrante (voz)
- 2018O Desmonte do Monte
- 2018Antes do Fim
- 2017InauditoVoice
- 2017All Paulos in the World - Paulo José
- 2017Febre
- 2017Brazilian Cinema in the 20th CenturySelf
- 2017Venus – Filly the Lesbian Little FairyNarração
- 2016O Cinema Foi à FeiraEla mesma
- 2016Ralé: The Lower DepthsSonia Silk
- 2014Love Film FestivalHerself
- 2014The End of an Age(voz)
- 2014Estátua!Mãe (voz)
- 2014Paixão e Virtude
- 2014Copacabana, Mon Amour: A RestauraçãoSelf
- 2014OssosVoz Off
- 2013Desculpa, Dona MadamaPatroa
- 2013Ugly, Me?Jarda
- 2013Poder dos AfetosRitual Xamânico
- 2013TernoMãe
- 2013Sinais de Cinza, A Peleja de Olney Contra o Dragão da Maldade
- 2012A Balada do ProvisórioProvisório's Mother
- 2012Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz
- 2012Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
- 2010Avacalha e se Esculhamba
- 2009Hotel AtlânticoDona da Pousada
- 2009Belair
- 2009A Vermelha Luz do Bandido
- 2008Embodiment of EvilCabíria
- 2008A Bela P...
- 2007Canção de BaalDirector
- 2007Meu Mundo em PerigoMãe de Ísis
- 2006Helena Zero
- 2005Luz-Lux-Lúcia
- 2005A Miss e o DinossauroHerself (archive footage) / (Voz em Off)
- 2004Retrato da TerraEla mesma
- 2003The Sign of ChaosGuida
- 2003Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's LabyrinthSelf
- 2003AbrySelf
- 2003Reinvenção da RuaHerself
- 2001B2
- 1999São JerônimoMarcela
- 1997Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema NacionalSelf
- 1994Flying Geraldo
- 1992Scent of GardeniasBandida
- 1992Tereza BatistaMaricota
- 1992Oswaldianas
- 1992Perigo NegroTiafa
- 1992América: O Grande Acerto de VespúcioEditor
- 1990Anônimo e incomum
- 1986It's Not All True
- 1986Spray JetBossy Lady
- 1978Mulheres de CinemaSelf (archive footage)
- 1974A Man and His CageAeromoça
- 1973Um Intruso no Paraíso
- 1971Memoirs of a Strangler of BlondesMultiple Characters (Archive Footage)
- 1970Baron Olavo, The HorribleIsabel
- 1970The Hullabaloo FamilyProstituta
- 1970No Way, Spider
- 1970Carnaval na Lama
- 1970Copacabana Mon AmourSônia Silk
- 1970Watch Out, Madame
- 1970The Monsters of Babaloo
- 1969The Woman of EveryoneÂngela Carne e Osso
- 1969Era Preciso VoltarRegina
- 1968The Red Light BanditJanete Jane
- 1968The Outsiders
- 1967Face to FaceLuciana
- 1967O EnganoMulher do médico
- 1966The Priest and the GirlMariana
- 1964Grito da TerraMariá
- 1962Assault on the Pay TrainMarta
- 1961A Grande FeiraEly
- 1959O PátioThe woman
- —Flesh
- —Lost MediaA Colecionadora
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