Henfil was born on February 5, 1944 in Ribeirão das Neves, Minas Gerais, Brazil as Henrique de Souza Filho. He was a writer and director, known for Tanga (Deu no New York Times?) (1987), Estúdio A... Gildo (1982) and O Evangelho Segundo Teotônio (1984). He died on January 4, 1988 in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.