Directed by Héctor Babenco

Directed by Héctor Babenco

7 Episodes

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.

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Directed by Héctor Babenco

7 Episodes

  • Pixote
    2:07:24
    Pixote
    Episode 1

    Pixote

    Episode 1

    Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1981 • Brazil
    Starring Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Julião, Gilberto Moura

    With its bracing blend of unflinching realism and aching humanity, Héctor Babenco's electrifying look at lost youth fighting to survive on the bottom rung of Brazilian society helped put th...

  • Lúcio Flávio
    2:01:25
    Lúcio Flávio
    Episode 2

    Lúcio Flávio

    Episode 2

    Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1977 • Brazil
    Starring Reginaldo Faria, Ana Maria Magalhães, Paulo César Peréio

    An enormous box-office success in Brazil, Héctor Babenco’s second feature electrified audiences with its gritty, gut-punching evocation of a corrupt world where the line between criminals...

  • Kiss of the Spider Woman
    2:00:43
    Kiss of the Spider Woman
    Episode 3

    Kiss of the Spider Woman

    Episode 3

    Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1985 • United States, Brazil
    Starring William Hurt, Raúl Juliá, Sônia Braga

    Héctor Babenco’s follow-up to his electrifying international breakthrough PIXOTE is another powerful, boldly realized portrait of life on the margins of Brazilian society. Based on the novel ...

  • King of the Night
    1:38:09
    King of the Night
    Episode 4

    King of the Night

    Episode 4

    Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1975 • Brazil
    Starring Paulo José, Marília Pêra, Vic Militello

    Héctor Babenco’s first feature traces the descent of Tertuliano (Paulo José), a once-promising aspiring lawyer, into a life of decadence and amorality on the bohemian fringes of São Paulo as he falls into...

  • Foolish Heart
    2:13:31
    Foolish Heart
    Episode 5

    Foolish Heart

    Episode 5

    Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1998 • Brazil, Argentina, France
    Starring Miguel Ángel Solá, Maria Luísa Mendonça, Walter Quiroz

    A deeply personal passion project for director Héctor Babenco, this tale of romantic and artistic awakening follows seventeen-year-old Juan (Walter Quiroz), a young man w...

  • The Past
    1:53:00
    The Past
    Episode 6

    The Past

    Episode 6

    Directed by Héctor Babenco • 2007 • Brazil, Argentina
    Starring Gael García Bernal, Analía Couceyro, Mariana Anghileri

    Supercharged with almost operatic drama, Héctor Babenco’s provocative adaptation of a novel by Argentine writer Alan Pauls stars the magnetic Gael García Bernal as Rimini, a tran...

  • Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
    1:13:57
    Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
    Episode 7

    Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

    Episode 7

    Directed by Bárbara Paz • 2019 • Brazil

    “I’ve already lived my death, now all I have to do is make a movie about it,” said the filmmaker Hector Babenco to Bárbara Paz, realizing that he didn’t have much time left. She accepted the mission and fulfilled her partner’s last wish: to be the protagon...

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