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).
Photos
Films (121)
Nem Tudo é Paz e Amor
2026 · Self
Pioneiras do Cinema
2026
América do Sol
2026 · Sonia Silk
A Film to Remind Us of Utopia
2026 · Self (archive footage)
Garden of Silences
2026
Eclipse
2026 · Dona da Kitnet
Fernando Coni Campos: Cada um Vive como Sonha
2026 · Self
Cartas Para Rian
2026 · Nair de Tefé
As Florestas da Noite
2026
Helena! Cinema!
2026
Nosferatu
2025
Gravidade
2025
Message from Sergipe
2025
Trópico de Leão
2025 · Medéia
Not Even God Is As Fair As Your Jeans
2025 · Dra. Marina Consiglio
Deuses da Peste
2025
A Última Vanguarda
2024 · Self
If I'm Here It Is by Mystery
2024 · Arlete
Nelson Carneiro: Knight of Democracy
2023 · Self
Helena de Guaratiba
2023 · Helena
O Mel é Mais Doce Que o Sangue
2023
The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus
2023
Joy Is the Acid Test
2023 · Jarda Ícone, Director, Screenplay, Executive Producer
The Mother
2022 · Dulce
The Welles Raft
2022 · Herself
Nova Pasta, Antigo Baú
2021 · Voiceover
Um Documentário Brasileiro
2021 · Self
The Good Cinema
2021
Subterrânea
2021 · Senhora Ônibus
Benjamim Zambraia e o Autopanóptico
2020 · Mother
Candango: Memoirs from a Festival
2020 · Self
Mulher Oceano
2020 · Mulher Caminhando de Costas (uncredited)
Race Antenna
2020 · Self
The Lady Who Died in the Trailer
2020
Esse fim de semana vou me dedicar as paredes
2020
Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral
2020 · Director
Ensaio Sobre o Fracasso
2020
Natureza Morta
2020 · Narradora 3
Rio de Topless
2020 · Self
Extracts
2019
Notícias do Fim do Mundo
2019
Flesh
2019 · (voice)
Fakir
2019 · Narrator, Director, Screenplay, Art Direction, Musical Casting
In Memoriam: O Roteiro do Gravador
2019
A Mulher da Luz Própria
2019 · Self
Memórias do Grupo Opinião
2019 · Self (archive footage)
Bring me the Head of Carmen M.
2019 · Diretora
My Calendar Girl
2018 · Helena / Palestrante (voz), Director, Screenplay
O Desmonte do Monte
2018
Antes do Fim
2018
Inauditoo
2017 · Voice
All Paulos in the World - Paulo José
2017
Febre
2017
Brazilian Cinema in the 20th Century
2017 · Self
Venus – Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy
2017 · Narração
O Cinema Foi à Feira
2016 · Ela mesma
Ralé: The Lower Depths
2016 · Sonia Silk, Director, Writer, Producer
Love Film Festival
2014 · Herself
The End of an Age
2014 · (voz)
Estátua!
2014 · Mãe (voz)
Paixão e Virtude
2014
Copacabana, Mon Amour: A Restauração
2014 · Self
Ossos
2014 · Voz Off, Director, Screenstory, Screenplay, Music, Producer
Desculpa, Dona Madama
2013 · Patroa
Ugly, Me?
2013 · Jarda, Director, Writer, Associate Producer, Executive Producer
Poder dos Afetos
2013 · Ritual Xamânico, Director, Screenstory, Screenplay, Executive Producer
Terno
2013 · Mãe
Sinais de Cinza, A Peleja de Olney Contra o Dragão da Maldade
2013
A Balada do Provisório
2012 · Provisório's Mother
Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz
2012
Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
2012 · Director, Adaptation, Writer
Avacalha e se Esculhamba
2010
Hotel Atlântico
2009 · Dona da Pousada
Belair
2009
A Vermelha Luz do Bandido
2009
Embodiment of Evil
2008 · Cabíria
A Bela P...
2008
Canção de Baal
2007 · Director, Screenplay
Meu Mundo em Perigo
2007 · Mãe de Ísis
Helena Zero
2006
Luz-Lux-Lúcia
2005
A Miss e o Dinossauro
2005 · Herself (archive footage) / (Voz em Off), Director, Camera Operator, Music Supervisor, Researcher
Retrato da Terra
2004 · Self
The Sign of Chaos
2003 · Guida
Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
2003 · Self
Abry
2003 · Self
Reinvenção da Rua
2003 · Herself, Director
B2
2001
São Jerônimo
1999 · Marcela
Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
1997 · Self
Flying Geraldo
1994
Scent of Gardenias
1992 · Bandida
Oswaldianas
1992
Perigo Negro
1992 · Tiafa
América: O Grande Acerto de Vespúcio
1992 · Editor
Anônimo e incomum
1990
It's Not All True
1986
Spray Jet
1986 · Bossy Lady
Mulheres de Cinema
1978 · Self (archive footage)
A Man and His Cage
1974 · Aeromoça
Um Intruso no Paraíso
1973
Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes
1971 · Multiple Characters (Archive Footage)
Baron Olavo, The Horrible
1970 · Isabel
The Rowdy Family
1970 · Prostituta
No Way, Spider
1970
Carnaval na Lama
1970
Copacabana Mon Amour
1970 · Sônia Silk
Watch Out, Madame
1970 · Empregada
The Monsters of Babaloo
1970
The Woman of Everyone
1969 · Ângela Carne e Osso
The Red Light Bandit
1968 · Janete Jane
The Outsiders
1968
Face to Face
1967 · Luciana
O Engano
1967 · Mulher do médico
The Priest and the Girl
1966 · Mariana
Grito da Terra
1964 · Mariá
Assault on the Pay Train
1962 · Marta
A Grande Feira
1961 · Ely
O Pátio
1959 · The woman, Co-Producer
Flesh
Lost Media
· A Colecionadora
