Rogerio Sganzerla

Rogério Sganzerla was a Brazilian filmmaker, roteirista and producer. He was one of the main names of the cinema marginal, a countercultural movement of Brazilian cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. He was known for his use of irony, narrative subversion and collage in his films, which often challenged the conventions of film noir and pornochanchadas. He was influenced by Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard and José Mojica Marins. His most famous work is The Red Light Bandit (1968), a satire of the media and the police based on the real-life criminal João Acácio Pereira da Costa. He also directed other films such as The Woman of Everyone (1969), Copacabana Mon Amour (1970), Sem Essa, Aranha (1970), Nem Tudo É Verdade (1985) and O Signo do Caos (2003). He was married to actress and filmmaker Helena Ignez, who starred in many of his films. He had two daughters, Sinai and Djin, who are also filmmakers. He died in 2004, of a brain tumor, shortly after finishing his last film O Signo do Caos. He is considered one of the most original and influential filmmakers in Brazilian cinema history.