---
name: "Héctor Babenco"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/hector-babenco"
fi1m_id: "hector-babenco"
imdb_id: "nm0002199"
tmdb_id: 40542
wikidata_id: "Q538608"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "7 February 1946"
died: "14 July 2016"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 86
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T18:36:34.903972+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Héctor Babenco

## Identity

Héctor Babenco

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/hector-babenco
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** hector-babenco
- **IMDb ID:** nm0002199
- **TMDB ID:** 40542
- **Wikidata ID:** Q538608
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9ctor_Babenco, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q538608, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002199/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40542

Director. Born 7 February 1946 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Died 14 July 2016.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 7 February 1946, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- **Died:** 14 July 2016
- **Active:** 1980–1985
- **Also known as:** Héctor Eduardo Babenco, 헥토르 바벤코, 헥터 바벤코
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 86, as director, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9ctor_Babenco, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q538608, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002199/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/40542

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Kiss of the Spider Woman*](https://film.one/film/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.md) (84)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Héctor Babenco

> Héctor Babenco’s patient direction lets difficult people earn our sympathy without becoming agreeable. We recommend starting with *Kiss of the Spider Woman*, where the two leading performances make an unlikely closeness convincing despite some overworked fantasy.

Two men share a cell in *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), and Héctor Babenco lets their opinions of each other change slowly. Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui cannot finish an awkward conversation by walking out. Babenco makes that restriction useful: the film gives them time to resist each other without treating either man as a problem to be corrected. It is patient, moving direction, and the actors justify the time he gives them.

His early breakthroughs were *Lucio Flavio* (1977) and *Pixote* (1980), the latter centred on abandoned street children in São Paulo. His films often use real locations and non-professional performers, while leaving room for lyrical passages alongside the documentary-style realism. After *Kiss of the Spider Woman* came the Hollywood productions *Ironweed* (1987), starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, and *At Play in the Fields of the Lord* (1991). He returned to Brazil for *Carandiru* (2003), a prison film using former inmates as actors. Confinement and the need for human company remained recurring subjects.

William Hurt and Raúl Juliá make *Kiss of the Spider Woman* the clearest reason for our regard. Their contrasting performances allow affection to develop without making the earlier resistance seem foolish. The danger in this sort of drama is that each cellmate becomes a lesson provided for the other’s improvement, but Babenco keeps both men difficult. He gives the actors room to suggest feelings their dialogue cannot settle, so a conversation can achieve something without resolving everything.

We were moved by the growing affection because neither man has to become agreeable to deserve it. The fantasy passages are occasionally overworked, and our attention is firmer when the film stays with the two men. Babenco does not need so much elaboration to make this relationship matter. Start here for the performances, with some patience for the fantasies.

## Biography

Héctor Babenco was an Argentine-born Brazilian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was born on 7 February 1946 and died on 13 July 2016 in São Paulo.

Babenco began his career in Brazil in the 1970s after time spent in Spain. His early features included *Lúcio Flávio* (1977) and *Pixote* (1980). He gained international recognition as director of *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.

Later works included *Ironweed* (1987), *At Play in the Fields of the Lord* (1991) and *Carandiru* (2003). He directed in Argentina, Brazil and the United States, often focusing on marginalised characters.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.md)
- *Pixote* (1980), Fi1m 88, Producer, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/pixote.md)

## Complete filmography (24)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Talk to Him* (2018), as Hector Babenco
- *My Hindu Friend* (2016), Director, Writer
- *Words with Gods* (2014), Writer, Director
- *Rita Cadillac: The Lady of the People* (2010), Actor
- *Paulista* (2009), as Héctor Babenco
- *The Past* (2007), as Proyeccionista · Director, Writer
- *Once Upon a Time There Was Iracema* (2005), Actor
- *Carandiru: The Series* (2005), series, Script, Producer
- *Carandiru* (2003), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Before Night Falls* (2000), as Virgilio Pinera
- *Amélia* (2000), Thanks
- *The Venice Project* (1999), as Danilo Danuzzi
- *Foolish Heart* (1998), Producer, Director, Writer
- *At Play in the Fields of the Lord* (1991), Director, Screenplay
- *Ironweed* (1987), Director
- *Besame Mucho* (1987), Producer
- *The Mission* (1986), Thanks — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-mission-1986.md)
- *Kiss of the Spider Woman* (1985), Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.md)
- *The Earth is Round like An Orange* (1984), Director
- *Pixote* (1980), Producer, Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/pixote.md)
- *Lucio Flavio* (1977), Director, Writer
- *King of the Night* (1975), Story, Director, Producer
- *O Fabuloso Fittipaldi* (1973), Executive Producer, Writer, Director
- *Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand*, Director, Producer, Story

## Gallery

- ![Héctor Babenco](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-33bcf687e370.jpg) Héctor Babenco — Victor Soares/ABr, CC BY 3.0 br, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/H%C3%A9ctor_Babenco.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-25f30f414f47.jpg) Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015 — Secretaria Especial da Cultura do Ministério da Cidadania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2821785802764%29.jpg/1280px-Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2821785802764%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-e086f7b621a7.jpg) Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015 — Secretaria Especial da Cultura do Ministério da Cidadania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2821787657313%29.jpg/1280px-Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2821787657313%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-dd8eeb4900a2.jpg) Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015 — Secretaria Especial da Cultura do Ministério da Cidadania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2821787671763%29.jpg/1280px-Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2821787671763%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Héctor Babenco](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-762da29f1297.jpg) Héctor Babenco — Image via TMDB
- ![Héctor Babenco](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-e83a456457a8.jpg) Héctor Babenco — Image via TMDB
- ![Héctor Babenco](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-ba0ceff3d352.jpg) Héctor Babenco — Image via TMDB
- ![Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-3e8299c1737b.jpg) Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015 — Secretaria Especial da Cultura do Ministério da Cidadania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2822220609810%29.jpg/1280px-Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2822220609810%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015](https://film.one/media/person/118470/gallery-136d32d7650e.jpg) Abertura da 39ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo Foto:LiadePaula/MinC SÃO PAULO-SP 21/10/2015 — Secretaria Especial da Cultura do Ministério da Cidadania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2822221013888%29.jpg/1280px-Abertura_da_39%C2%AA_Mostra_Internacional_de_Cinema_de_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_%2822221013888%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1986: Best Director (nominated), for *Kiss of the Spider Woman*

### Other awards — 3 won

- Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil) 2011: Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil) (won)
- Annual award ACFK 2007: Annual award ACFK (won)
- Brazilian Cinema Grand Prize for Best Director 2004: Brazilian Cinema Grand Prize for Best Director (won), for *Carandiru*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/hector-babenco