Directed by Héctor Babenco

Outlaws and outcasts populate the films of Argentine Brazilian director Héctor Babenco, an artist of rare empathy born eighty years ago this month. First finding success (and notoriety) in Brazil with his incendiary thriller LÚCIO FLÁVIO—the true story of an infamous bandit that doubles as a potent critique of police corruption—he went on to achieve international acclaim with his neorealist bombshell PIXOTE, a harrowing descent into Brazil’s criminal underworld as seen through the eyes of a young street boy, and the subversive Manuel Puig adaptation KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, a taboo-shattering exploration of masculinity and sexuality starring Raul Julia and an Academy Award–winning William Hurt. Moving between gritty authenticity, operatic melodrama, and flourishes of feverish surrealism, Babenco’s films stand as works of indelible courage and compassion.