
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).

Hotel Atlântico
2009 · as Dona da Pousada

Nosferatu
2025

Eclipse
2026 · as Dona da Kitnet

Helena! Cinema!
2026

Estátua!
2014 · as Mãe (voz)

Subterrânea
2021 · as Senhora Ônibus

Ralé: The Lower Depths
2016 · as Sonia Silk

Oswaldianas
1992

Embodiment of Evil
2008 · as Cabíria

Assault on the Pay Train
1962 · as Marta

Memoirs of a Strangler of Blondes
1971 · as Multiple Characters (Archive Footage)

Antes do Fim
2018

Face to Face
1967 · as Luciana

O Cinema Foi à Feira
2016 · as Ela mesma

Mulher Oceano
2020 · as Mulher Caminhando de Costas (uncredited)

The Red Light Bandit
1968 · as Janete Jane

A Última Vanguarda
2024 · as Self

Love Film Festival
2014 · as Herself