Héctor Eduardo Babenco (February 7, 1946 – July 13, 2016)[1] was an Argentine-Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who worked in several countries including Brazil, Argentina, and the United States. He was one of the first Brazilian filmmakers to gain international critical acclaim, through his films which often dealt with social outcasts on the fringes of society.[2] His best-known works include Pixote (1980), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Ironweed (1987), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1990) and Carandiru (2003).
Héctor Babenco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Héctor Eduardo Babenco February 7, 1946 |
| Died | July 13, 2016 (aged 70) |
| Nationality |
|
| Occupation(s) | Film director and producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1973–2015 |
| Notable work | |
Babenco's films brought him several accolades. He was nominated three times for the Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for Kiss of the Spider Woman. He won the Grande Prêmio do Cinema Brasileiro twice, and the Prêmio ACIE de Cinema once.
Early life
editBabenco was born in Buenos Aires and raised in Mar del Plata. His mother, Janka Haberberg, was a Polish Jewish immigrant, and his father, Jaime Babenco, was an Argentine gaucho of Ukrainian Jewish origin.[3][4][5] Babenco lived in Europe from 1964 to 1968. In 1969, he decided to stay in São Paulo, Brazil, permanently.
Career
editHis first solo feature film as a director was O Rei da Noite (King of the Night) (1975), starring Paulo José and Marília Pêra.[6]
Babenco had an international success with Pixote – A lei do mais fraco (1981).[7] It concerns Brazil's abandoned children. In the words of E. Ruby Rich while it concerns "a pair of boys who form a symbiotic sexual union", the film cannot "be held up as an example of how gay desire can be depicted, given its sensationalistic and sordid treatment of gay sex as accommodation, substitution, and punishment".[7] The film featured impressive work of young actor Fernando Ramos da Silva, 10 years old at the time, who was discovered in the suburbs of São Paulo. The film received numerous prizes, including nomination for Best Foreign Film at the 1982 Golden Globes Awards.[8]
For Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Babenco was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director,[9][10] the first Latin American to be nominated in this category.
He directed some of the most respected American actors of his time, including William Hurt, John Lithgow, Raul Julia, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn and Kathy Bates.
In 2012 Babenco was part of the jury in the 34th Moscow International Film Festival.[11]
His last film was My Hindu Friend (2016), which stars Willem Dafoe. It recounts the story of a film director close to death.[12]
Personal life
editIn 2010, Barbenco married actress Bárbara Paz.[8] He was previously married to Xuxa Lopes and Raquel Arnaud. He was the father of two daughters, Janka Babenco and Myra Arnaud Babenco, from his previous marriages, and also had two grandchildren.
Health issues and death
editIn 1994, Babenco fell ill and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant to treat a lymphatic cancer,[13] a diagnosis which he had since he was 38 years old.[8]
On July 12, 2016, Babenco was admitted to Hospital Sírio-Libanês to treat sinusitis. The following night, he suffered a cardiac arrest, and died shortly thereafter.[14]
Filmography
edit| Year | Original title | English release title | Functioned as | Country | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||||
| 1975 | O Rei da Noite | King of the Night | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directorial Debut Co-writer with Orlando Senna | |
| 1977 | Lúcio Flávio: O Passageiro da Agonia | Lúcio Flávio | Yes | Yes | No | Co-writer with José Louzeiro & Jorge Durán | |
| 1980 | Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco | Pixote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Jorge Durán | |
| 1985 | Kiss of the Spider Woman | Yes | No | No | |||
| 1987 | Ironweed | Yes | No | No | |||
| 1991 | At Play in the Fields of the Lord | Yes | Yes | No | Co-writer with Jean-Claude Carrière & Vincent Patrick | ||
| 1998 | Corazón Iluminado | Foolish Heart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Ricardo Piglia | |
| 2003 | Carandiru | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Fernando Bonassi & Victor Navas | ||
| 2007 | El Pasado | The Past | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-writer with Marta Goes | |
| 2014 | Words with Gods | Yes | Yes | No | Segment: "The Man That Stole a Duck" | ||
| 2015 | Meu Amigo Hindu | My Hindu Friend | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Documentaries
edit| Year | Original title | English release title | Functioned as | Country | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||||
| 1973 | O Fabuloso Fittipaldi | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Roberto Farias | |
| 1984 | A Terra É Redonda como Uma Laranja | - | Yes | No | No | ||
Television
edit| Year | Original title | English release title | Functioned as | Country | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||||
| 2005 | Carandiru: Outras Histórias | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Episodes: "Love Story I" & "Love Story II" | |
Acting roles
edit| Year | Original title | English release title | Role | Director | Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Venice Project | Danilo Danuzzi | Robert Dornhelm | |||
| 2000 | Before Night Falls | Virgilio Piñera | Julian Schnabel | |||
| 2007 | El Pasado | The Past | Projectionist | Himself | Cameo | |
Awards and nominations
editReferences
edit- ^ Globo: "Hector Babenco morre aos 70 anos" July 14, 2016
- ^ Bergan, Ronald (2016-07-18). "Héctor Babenco obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
- ^ "Alex Bellos talks to Brazilian director Hector Babenco". The Guardian. 2003-11-02. Archived from the original on 2022-03-01.
- ^ Hector Babenco's Carandiru
- ^ The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films
- ^ Babenco, Hector, O Rei da Noite (Drama), HB Filmes, José Pinto Produçoes, retrieved 2022-03-03
- ^ a b Rich, E. Ruby (2013). New Queer Cinema: The Director's Cut. Durham, N.C & London: Duke University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0822354284.
- ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (2021-01-24). "'Babenco: Tell Me When I Die': How Bárbara Paz Made A Cinematic Ode To Her Late Filmmaker Husband". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
- ^ "Memorable Films: Hectór Babenco and 'The Kiss of the Spider Woman' | Latinolife". www.latinolife.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
- ^ "Kiss of the Spider Woman | film by Babenco [1985] | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
- ^ Darmaros, Marina (2012-06-25). "Moscow International Film Festival has a Latin focus". Russia Beyond The Headlines. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- ^ ""Kiss of the Spider Woman" director Hector Babenco dead at 70". CBS News. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Héctor Babenco Archived 2004-12-16 at the Wayback Machine official web site.
- ^ "Morre, aos 70 anos, o cineasta Hector Babenco". cinema.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-02-13.
External links
edit- Héctor Babenco at IMDb
- Héctor Babenco at Cinenacional.com (in Spanish) (archive)