Italian Director Ludovica Rampoldi’s Clandestine Romance ‘A Brief Affair’ Scores Slew of Sales Ahead of Rome Film Festival Launch (EXCLUSIVE)

Italian writer-turned-director Ludovica Rampoldi’s clandestine romance “A Brief Affair” — which features a stellar local cast including Pilar Fogliati (“Madly”) Adriano Giannini (“Supersex”) and Valeria Golino (“The Morning Show”) — has scored a slew of international sales ahead of its upcoming Rome Film Festival launch.

Blending thriller, drama and romance tropes coated in an overall ironic tone, the film marks the directorial debut of Rampoldi, who is a prominent Italian screenwriter. She is known for her work on Sky’s “Gomorra” series, Amazon’s “The Bad Guy” show and films such as Marco Bellochio’s “The Traitor” and Oscar winner Gabriele Salvatores’s “The Invisible Boy.”

“A Brief Affair” is the story of Lea (played by Fogliati) and Rocco (Giannini), who meet by chance in a bar and are struck by an instant attraction. A secret affair ensues, consisting of fleeting, clandestine meetings in a hotel room. However, as time passes, Lea becomes obsessed with Rocco, leading her to increasingly intrude into his life and taking the story in an unexpected and unsettling direction.

At Rome’s just concluded MIA market, Italian sales company True Colours inked sales deals to “A Brief Affair” with Busch Media Group (German-language territories); Karma Films (Spain and Andorra); Another World Entertainment (Scandinavia); Aurora Films (Poland); Rosebud.21 (Greece); Scene&Sound aka Poongkyung Sori (South Korea); Pandora (Brazil); Palace Films (Australia and New Zealand); Cola Films (Taiwan); Risi Film (Portugal); and EstinFilm (Baltic countries).

“After years of writing screenplays for other directors, I decided to make my directorial debut with ‘Breve Storia d’Amore’ (‘A Brief Affair’) to explore the complexity of relationships in a very personal way, questioning myself about purity, betrayal, desire and the mystery that other people always represent to us,” Rampoldi said in a statement.

“A Brief Affair,” which is produced by Indigo Film, HT Film and RAI Cinema, will have its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival Thursday. It is set for theatrical release in Italy on Nov. 27 via RAI Cinema’s 01 Distribution arm.