Brazilian art film screenwriter

Leopoldo Serran, 66, the Brazilian screenwriter behind 1970s art-house hits including “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” and “Bye Bye Brazil,” died Aug. 20 of liver cancer at Ipanema Hospital in Rio de Janeiro.

Serran was the son of a naval admiral and grew up in the Ipanema section of Rio. He got his start by adapting Joao Felicio dos Santos’ novel “Ganga Zumba,” along with screenwriter Rubem Rocha Filho and director Carlos Diegues. The 1963 film, which marked Diegues’ directorial debut, is considered a classic of Brazil’s Cinema Novo movement.

Serran also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1976 feature “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands,” adapted from the Jorge Amado novel. The film introduced audiences to actress Sonia Braga and sold nearly 12 million tickets in Brazil, one of the country’s biggest box office successes.