Héctor Babenco
Héctor Babenco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 7, 1946 |
| Died | July 13, 2016 (aged 70) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director and producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1973–2015 |
Héctor Eduardo Babenco (February 7, 1946 – July 13, 2016)[1] was an Argentine-born Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.[2] He worked in several countries including Argentina, Brazil and the United States. His most famous works are Pixote (1980), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Ironweed (1987), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1990) and Carandiru (2003).
Life and career
Babenco 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 origin. Babenco lived in Europe from 1964 to 1968. In 1969, he decided to stay in São Paulo, Brazil permanently. In 1975, he directed his first feature film, King of the Night.
His break-out film was Pixote – A lei do mais fraco (1981) about Brazil's abandoned children. Due to the 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 was a worldwide success and received numerous international prizes.
For his 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman, Babenco was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, the first Latin American to be nominated in this category.
In 1994, Babenco fell ill and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant to treat a lymphatic cancer.[3]
He directed some of the most respected American actors in cinema, including William Hurt, John Lithgow, Raul Julia, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn and Kathy Bates.
His last film was My Hindu Friend, starring Willem Dafoe. It tells the story of a film director close to death.[4]
Filmography
Director and producer
- O Fabuloso Fittipaldi (1973)
- King of the Night (1975)
- Lucio Flavio (1977)
- Pixote (1980)
- Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985; director only)
- Ironweed (1987; director only)
- At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991; director only)
- Foolish Heart (1998)
- Carandiru (2003)
- Carandiru, Outras Histórias (2005; TV series; producer)
- El pasado (2007; also writer)
- Words With Gods (2014)
- My Hindu Friend (2015)
Actor
- The Venice Project (1999)
- Before Night Falls (2000)
Awards and Nominations
References
- ^ Globo: "Hector Babenco morre aos 70 anos" July 14, 2016
- ^ Héctor Babenco at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Héctor Babenco official web site.
- ^ ""Kiss of the Spider Woman" director Hector Babenco dead at 70". CBS News. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
{{cite web}}: zero width space character in|title=at position 1 (help) - ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002199/awards?ref_=nm_awd
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002199/awards?ref_=nm_awd
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002199/awards?ref_=nm_awd
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002199/awards?ref_=nm_awd
External links
- Héctor Babenco at Cinenacional.com (in Spanish) Template:Es icon.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1946 births
- 2016 deaths
- Argentine film directors
- Argentine film producers
- Argentine emigrants to Brazil
- Argentine Jews
- Argentine people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Argentine people of Ukrainian descent
- Argentine people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
- Argentine screenwriters
- Male screenwriters
- Argentine male writers
- Brazilian film directors
- Brazilian film producers
- Brazilian screenwriters
- Brazilian Jews
- Brazilian people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Brazilian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
- Cancer survivors
- Jewish Argentine male actors
- Jewish Brazilian male actors
- Naturalized citizens of Brazil
- People from Mar del Plata