Raised in Rio de Janeiro and NYC

Feature directorial debut, "Tati", Brazil's official entry at the Moscow Film Festival

Co-wrote (with Carlos Diegues) and directed "A Estrela Sobe"

Scored international hit with "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands", which he co-adapted from the novel by Jorge Amado; first collaboration with screenwriter Leopoldo Serran; picture starred Sonia Braga and earned the Jury's Special Prize at Italy's Taormina Film Festival

Expanded international reputation with "Amor Bandido/Beloved Lover", an uncompromising and ultimately, sad film based on one of Brazil's most notorious criminal cases; Serran co-wrote screenplay

"Dona Flor" remade as "Kiss Me Goodbye", directed by Robert Mulligan

Reteamed with Braga as "Gabriela", which he also co-adapted (with Serran) from an Amado novel

Was line producer for Christopher Cain's "Where the River Runs Black"

English-language directing debut, "A Show of Force", co-starring future wife Amy Irving

US TV-movie directing debut, "The Heart of Justice", a presentation of "TNT Screenworks"; Vincent Price made final screen appearance; first association with actor Dennis Hopper and director of photography Declan Quinn

Helmed "Carried Away", starring Irving and Hopper; also credited as executive producer; Quinn served as cinematographer

Directed the superb docudrama "Four Days in September", about the 1969 kidnapping of the US ambassador to Brazil; Serran, the last in a long line of writers, credited for screenplay; nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award

Stumbled with cliched crime actioner, "One Tough Cop", based on NYC policeman Bo Dietl's autobiographical book; starred Steven Baldwin and Chris Penn; featured Irving as a foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails FBI agent

Cast Irving as English teacher living in Rio in the romantic comedy "Bossa Nova"