Helena Ignez profile
Actor profile

Helena Ignez

23rd May 1939 Salvador, Bahia, Brazil Acting

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).

112 Movies 3 TV Shows 115 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Eclipse poster
Eclipse 7th May 2026 as Dona da Kitnet
Mulher Oceano poster
Mulher Oceano 22nd October 2020 as Mulher Caminhando de Costas (uncredited)
Flesh poster
Flesh 7th August 2019 as (voice)
Fakir poster
Fakir 24th July 2019 as Narrator
Ossos poster
Ossos 1st January 2014 as Voz Off
Terno poster
Terno 23rd August 2013 as Mãe
Abry poster
Abry 20th March 2003 as Self
B2 poster
B2 1st January 2001
O Engano poster
O Engano 1st January 1967 as Mulher do médico