Helena Ignez
Acting • Born 1939-05-23
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).
Filmography
113 credits
Luz-Lux-Lúcia
Movie • 2005
Joy Is the Acid Test
Movie • 2023
Jarda Ícone
The Good Cinema
Movie • 2021
Embodiment of Evil
Movie • 2008
Cabíria
Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
Movie • 1997
Self
The Mother
Movie • 2022
Dulce
O Pátio
Movie • 1959
The woman
O Mel é Mais Doce Que o Sangue
Movie • 2023
The Priest and the Girl
Movie • 1966
Mariana
The Hullabaloo Family
Movie • 1970
Prostituta
The Woman of Everyone
Movie • 1969
Ângela Carne e Osso
Copacabana Mon Amour
Movie • 1970
Sônia Silk
The Sign of Chaos
Movie • 2003
Guida
Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes
Movie • 1971
Multiple Characters (Archive Footage)
A Grande Feira
Movie • 1961
Ely
It's Not All True
Movie • 1986
A Balada do Provisório
Movie • 2012
Provisório's Mother
No Way, Spider
Movie • 1970
Hotel Atlântico
Movie • 2009
Dona da Pousada
Helena de Guaratiba
Movie • 2023
Helena
Baron Olavo, The Horrible
Movie • 1969
Isabel
Face to Face
Movie • 1967
Luciana
Meu Mundo em Perigo
Movie • 2007
Mãe de Ísis
Watch Out, Madame
Movie • 1970
Assault on the Pay Train
Movie • 1962
Marta
Not Even God Is As Fair As Your Jeans
Movie • 2025
Dra. Marina Consiglio
The End of an Age
Movie • 2014
(voz)
Paixão e Virtude
Movie • 2014
Glauber Rocha - The Movie, Brazil's Labyrinth
Movie • 2003
Self
Love Film Festival
Movie • 2014
Herself
B2
Movie • 2001
O Engano
Movie • 1967
Mulher do médico
The Red Light Bandit
Movie • 1968
Janete Jane
Oswaldianas
Movie • 1992
Spray Jet
Movie • 1986
Bossy Lady
Grito da Terra
Movie • 1964
Mariá
Rio de Topless
Movie • 2020
Self
A Última Vanguarda
Movie • 2024
Self
Scent of Gardenias
Movie • 1992
Bandida
Memórias do Grupo Opinião
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Nelson Carneiro: Knight of Democracy
Movie • 2023
Self
São Jerônimo
Movie • 1999
Marcela
Retrato da Terra
Movie • 2004
Ela mesma
Carnaval na Lama
Movie • 1970
The Outsiders
Movie • 1968
If I'm Here It Is by Mystery
Movie • 2024
Arlete
Abry
Movie • 2003
Self
The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus
Movie • 2023
Ralé: The Lower Depths
Movie • 2016
Sonia Silk
Sinais de Cinza, A Peleja de Olney Contra o Dragão da Maldade
Movie • 2013
Helena Zero
Movie • 2006
Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz
Movie • 2012
A Miss e o Dinossauro
Movie • 2005
Herself (archive footage) / (Voz em Off)
A Man and His Cage
Movie • 1974
Aeromoça
O Cinema Foi à Feira
Movie • 2016
Ela mesma
Anônimo e incomum
Movie • 1990
Avacalha e se Esculhamba
Movie • 2010
Febre
Movie • 2017
Antes do Fim
Movie • 2018
My Calendar Girl
Movie • 2018
Helena / Palestrante (voz)
All Paulos in the World - Paulo José
Movie • 2017
The Monsters of Babaloo
Movie • 1970
Mulheres de Cinema
Movie • 1978
Self (archive footage)
Flying Geraldo
Movie • 1994
Venus – Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy
Movie • 2017
Narração
Terno
Movie • 2013
Mãe
Copacabana, Mon Amour: A Restauração
Movie • 2014
Self
A Mulher da Luz Própria
Movie • 2019
Self
Flesh
Movie • 2019
(voice)
A Vermelha Luz do Bandido
Movie • 2009
The Welles Raft
Movie • 2022
Herself
Extracts
Movie • 2019
Estátua!
Movie • 2014
Mãe (voz)
O Desmonte do Monte
Movie • 2018
Ensaio Sobre o Fracasso
Movie • 2020
Natureza Morta
Movie • 2020
Narradora 3
Ossos
Movie • 2014
Voz Off
Poder dos Afetos
Movie • 2013
Ritual Xamânico
Reinvenção da Rua
Movie • 2003
Herself
Bring me the Head of Carmen M.
Movie • 2019
Diretora
A Bela P...
Movie • 2008
Esse fim de semana vou me dedicar as paredes
Movie • 2020
Fogo Baixo, Alto Astral
Movie • 2020
Perigo Negro
Movie • 1992
Tiafa
Brazilian Cinema in the 20th Century
Movie • 2017
Self
In Memoriam: O Roteiro do Gravador
Movie • 2019
Race Antenna
Movie • 2020
Self
Desculpa, Dona Madama
Movie • 2013
Patroa
Candango: Memoirs from a Festival
Movie • 2020
Self
Mulher Oceano
Movie • 2020
Mulher Caminhando de Costas (uncredited)
Ugly, Me?
Movie • 2013
Jarda
Subterrânea
Movie • 2021
Senhora Ônibus
The Lady Who Died in the Trailer
Movie • 2020
Inaudito
Movie • 2017
Voice
Um Documentário Brasileiro
Movie • 2021
Self
Nova Pasta, Antigo Baú
Movie • 2021
Voiceover
Benjamim Zambraia e o Autopanóptico
Movie • 2020
Mother
Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit
Movie • 2012
Um Intruso no Paraíso
Movie • 1973
Belair
Movie • 2009
Flesh
Movie
Trópico de Leão
Movie • 2025
Medéia
Deuses da Peste
Movie • 2025
Fakir
Movie • 2019
Narrator
Gravidade
Movie • 2025
Message from Sergipe
Movie • 2025
Eclipse
Movie • 2026
Nosferatu
Movie • 2025
Lost Media
Movie
A Colecionadora
A Film to Remind Us of Utopia
Movie
Self (archive footage)
Tereza Batista
TV • 1992
Maricota
Era Preciso Voltar
TV • 1969
Regina
Primavera nos Dentes – A História do Secos & Molhados
TV • 2025
Self