Helena Ignez
Helena Ignez (born May 23, 1942) 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).
The Red Light Bandit
as Janete JaneBorn and raised in the misery of Brazilian slums, Jorge becomes a luxury house burglar in São...
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Embodiment of Evil
as CabíriaReleased from the Mental Health Wing of São Paulo State Penitentiary after forty years, the...
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The Priest and the Girl
as MarianaIn a small town in Minas Gerais, the arrival of a young priest causes a commotion in the...
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Copacabana Mon Amour
as Sônia SilkSônia and her homosexual brother are both believed by their mother to be possessed by the devil....
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Scent of Gardenias
as BandidaDriver who was left by his wife, who wanted to try a career in the movies, has to deal with...
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Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
as uncreditedJorge, bastard child of the infamous Red Light Bandit, decides himself to pursuit a life of...
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The Woman of Everyone
as Ângela Carne e OssoÂngela Carne e Osso (Angela Meat and Bone), a young nymphomaniac, lives surrounded by...
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Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
as Self"Portraits and excerpts from Brazilian films from all times. Actors, directors and images that...
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Assault on the Pay Train
as MartaBased on true events in Rio de Janeiro, in 1960, when a gang having the infamous outlaw Tião...
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Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes
as Archive FootageFirst film by Julio Bressane shot in exile, "Memoirs" is a film about a man who repeatedly kills...
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Memórias do Grupo Opinião
as Self (archive footage)Follows the story of Opinião, a theatre group created in 1964 during the early Brazilian...
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The Monsters of Babaloo
as uncreditedDaily scenes of a grotesque family living in the metaphorical island of Babaloo.
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Love Film Festival
as HerselfFilmed over six years in four countries: Portugal, Brazil, Colombia and United States, this...
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Mulher Oceano
as Mulher Caminhando de Costas (uncredited)After relocating to Tokyo, a Brazilian writer begins a new novel, provoked by her experiences in...
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Copacabana, Mon Amour: A Restauração
as Helena IgnezA documentary on the restoration of Rogério Sganzerla's 1970 film "Copacabana, Mon Amour".
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If I'm Here It Is by Mystery
as uncreditedNew Rio, 2054 AD. The Order of Truth wreaks havoc on the streets, killing every being that has...
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It's Not All True
as uncreditedOrson Welles goes to Brazil to shoot his documentary It's All True.
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The Lady Who Died in the Trailer
as uncreditedAfter being born Georgina in the outback of Bahia, she became known as Diva Rios in São Paulo’s...
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The Mother
as DulceA street vendor who lives in the outskirts of São Paulo returns home at night and does not find...
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Candango: Memoirs from a Festival
as SelfIn 1965, a year after the military coup in Brazil, an oasis of freedom opened in the country's...
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Watch Out, Madame
as uncreditedTwo maids decide to rebel against the society that oppresses them and start murdering their own...
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Nelson Carneiro: Knight of Democracy
as SelfIn 2018, Brazil’s 1988 Constitution turned thirty. Known as the Citizen Constitution, it was a...
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Cara a Cara
as LucianaThe story of a civil servant who lives with his elderly mother. Falling in love with a corrupt...
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O Signo do Caos
as GuidaA customs agent, Dr. Amnésio, examines some reels of film, a documentary Orson Welles made about...
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A Vermelha Luz do Bandido
as uncreditedExperimental documentary short that debates over Rogério Sganzerla's Brazilian cult classic "The...
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Brazilian Cinema in the 20th Century
as SelfTwo years of research and visits to collections, cinematheques and museums; almost seventy...
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Extracts
as uncreditedExtracts is a short film with images from 1970 to 1972 in the cities of Rio de Janeiro,...
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The Good Cinema
as uncreditedAn authentically marginal cinema created in Catholic university in Brazil. One of the most...
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A Família do Barulho
as uncreditedA dysfunctional family, composed of a prostitute and two gays, one strong and the other fragile...
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Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
as SelfDocumentary about Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha, one of the most important names in the...
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A Miss e o Dinossauro
as Herself (archive footage) / (Voz em Off)A short documentary on Belair, an independent Brazilian film company that lasted for only five...
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A Man and His Cage
as AeromoçaThe painter Tino, in professional and political crisis, receives a telegram from his...
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Flesh
as (voice)Rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well done. Through intimate and personal stories,...
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Perigo Negro
as uncreditedLoosely based on an Oswald de Andrade screenplay, "Perigo Negro" is a segment of anthology film...
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Mulheres de Cinema
as Self (archive footage)Documentary on famous Brazilian actresses, female directors and the role of women in Brazilian...
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A Última Vanguarda
as Self70 years ago, a visionary management in education and culture as a political strategy for the...
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Pátio
as uncreditedA man and a woman are laying on a chess-like patio. Both are trying to reach each other in the...
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Ugly, Me?
as JardaUgly, Me? is a film manifesto made from a workshop for actors called Characters in Search of a...
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Baron Olavo, the Horrible
as uncreditedBressane’s first color film, shot in the home of the artist Elyseu Visconti. Part of it is...
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Ralé: The Lower Depths
as Sonia SilkYoung directors are filming “The Exhibitionist” in the middle of a farm in a paradise-like...
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Venus – Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy
as NarraçãoIn this animated fairy-tale Filly, a lesbian fairy with nimble fingers, seduces women by day...
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The Welles Raft
as HerselfThe raft man Manuel Jacaré was swallowed by the sea when Orson Welles was filming It's All True...
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Natureza Morta
as uncreditedThe narrative takes place in 1888 and tells the story of Lenita, a young woman, raised by her...
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Bring me the Head of Carmen M.
as DiretoraAna, a Portuguese actress, dives into Brazil's current atmosphere of identity and political...
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The End of an Age
as (voz)They live, they act, they love. Today they remember, they relive, they live through cinema and life.
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Subterrânea
as Senhora ÔnibusAn experimental trip about Brazil after H.O.
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All Paulos in the World - Paulo José
as uncredited"All Paulos in the World" is a cinematographic essay about Paulo José, one of the greatest...
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Estátua!
as Mãe (voz)Isabel is a babysitter pregnant of her own child and can't wait to be a mother. Until she meets...
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Rio de Topless
as SelfTopless muse in Rio de Janeiro, Ana Paula Nogueira uses the ban on bare breasts and her story to...
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A Mulher da Luz Própria
as HerselfHelena Ignez is one of the main female figures of Brazilian cinema. She developed a new style of...
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Sem Essa, Aranha
as uncreditedSpider, a banker, lives with three women. This tycoon is a caricature of Brazil's bourgeoisie,...
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In Memoriam: O Roteiro do Gravador
as uncreditedExperimental movie about Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Modern Art's Movie Archive (Cinemateca).
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My Calendar Girl
as Palestrante (voz)A film in which dream and reality intertwine, A Moça do Calendário tells the story of inácio,...
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A Grande Feira
as ElyMade in the famous "Água de Meninos" market, the greatest popular market in Salvador, Bahia,...
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Flying Geraldo
as uncreditedA fantastic tale in the brutal reality of a slum. The life of a boy with the rare gift of...
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B2
as uncreditedA short film made with unused footage from The Red Light Bandit and Carnaval na Lama.
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Ensaio Sobre o Fracasso
as uncreditedA projectionist at a porn cinema in downtown São Paulo, makes his first film in Super8, an essay...
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Terno
as MãeOne day away of Marcelo's wedding, the tailor, the groom and his father will have to correct...
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Poder dos Afetos
as Ritual XamânicoA study that unwraps a paradisiac scenery, reaching the subjects of Brazility and its force in...
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O Desmonte do Monte
as uncreditedMorro do Castelo was chosen by the Portuguese to found Rio de Janeiro city. It was an important...
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Luz-Lux-Lúcia
as uncreditedA documentary short on Glauber Rocha's mother Lúcia.
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Reinvenção da Rua
as HerselfHelena Ignez's first film as a director is a homage to American architect and contemporary...
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Joy Is the Acid Test
as Jarda ÍconeA film about love, also a memoir, about the trip made in the 1970s to Morocco by Jarda Ícone, an...
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Inaudito
as VoiceGuitarist Lanny Gordin was one of the fundamental characters in the transformation of Brazilian...
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Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz
as uncreditedA documentary on prolific underground Brazilian filmmaker Rogério Sganzerla.
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Antes do Fim
as uncreditedJean feels trapped in the logic of longevity that the pharmaceutical industry imposes on him and...
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Belair
as uncreditedBetween February an May of 1970, Julio Bresane and Rogerio Sganzerla made 7 films for their...
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Desculpa, Dona Madama
as PatroaEmployee exploited by her employer changes her life by winning the lottery.
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Benjamim Zambraia e o Autopanóptico
as MotherBenjamim Zambraia is a young drunk who wanders around the city and is sometimes treated with...
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Spray Jet
as Bossy LadyThree artists from São Paulo - Leda Catunda, Leonilson and Ciro Cozzolino - talk about their...
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Esse fim de semana vou me dedicar as paredes
as uncreditedA person locked in the room.
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Grito da Terra
as MariáIn rural Brazil, villagers battle wealthy land barons for the sake of their own survival.
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Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral
as uncreditedShort film by Helena Ignez, for the "Programa Convida", from IMS, dedicated to creation during...
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Race Antenna
as SelfIn 1979, while Brazil was going through the troubled moment of the Amnesty Law, Glauber Rocha...
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Nova Pasta, Antigo Baú
as VoiceoverA self-portrait short film by veteran Brazilian filmmaker Sylvio Lanna.
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