
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).
120 movies · 3 TV shows, newest first

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