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About
Contro Vento means 'going against the wind'.
That's how we like to work. Outside the status quo.
We embrace an ethos of 'hyperrealism'
creating films that cut to the heart of truth.
Like a tightrope walker,
we tread the wire:
Reality and Imagination
Courage and Vulnerability
Truth and Delusion
Head and Heart
Science and Magic
This World and The Next.
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Raffaello Degruttola - Founder
Raffaello Degruttola is a BIFA-nominated Anglo-Italian Actor-Writer-Director and founding director of Contro Vento Films. Born in London to Italian parents from Ariano Irpino, Raff was raised in North London and Queens, New York. He won a place at the Sylvia Young Theatre School as a teenager and continued his acting training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
Raff quickly carved a niche as a versatile character actor in American films shot in Europe, working with notable directors Ron Howard ('Rush'), Micheal Apted ('Unlocked'), Richard Attenborough ('In Love And War') and Mike Nichols ('Wit'). In 2019 he appeared in a memorable cameo with Rebel Wilson in Chris Addison's 'The Hustle'.
His latest roles include playing Dr. Kagan opposite Dave Batista in action-comedy 'The Killer's Game' and playing lead antagonist Ricardo in road trip comedy 'The Monk, The Mermaid and Molise' opposite Sally Phillips and Pink Floyd's Guy Pratt. TV roles include playing Jamie's agent in 'Ted Lasso'.
In 2010 Raff wrote and directed 'The Other Side of My Sleep', a 30 min short inspired by the deaths of his father and grandmother. The film opened the Boston Film Festival. He went on to direct and star in his first feature 'Flim the Movie', a biting satire of the indie film world shot in an edgy mockumentary style. 'Flim' was nominated for Best British Debut at the Moet British Independent Film Awards following its selection for Raindance.
Drawn to playing complex characters with a manic edge, Raff went on to write and direct his first dramatic feature, 'Transference: A Love Story', a bipolar love story about control. The film received a special mention from the judges at SRFF 2020 and global attention for going viral on YouTube. It has now been viewed over 26M times. His latest feature, another obsessive toxic love story, 'To Love A Narcissist', starring Lyndsey Marshal alongside him, was officially selected by the New York Socially Relevant Film Festival (SRFF 2025).
Bill Bossert - Executive Producer
Bill entered the world of independent filmmaking starting with co-writing and producing the Canadian horror film, 'Terror of Dracula' in 2011. Following that, he helped produce the popular and award-winning web-series, 'Girl/Girl Scene' and became involved with indie rock bands Hunter Valentine and The Cliks.
Bill met Raff Degruttolla during the making of the feature, 'Seeking Dolly Parton' and re-united with Raff in 2020 as creative/executive producer of 'Transference: A Love Story'. It was during the filming of 'Transference' that Bill was asked to join Contro Vento Films. Aside from Contro Vento, Bill has helped in the production of several short films in the last two years, among them 'Bobby Jaws', 'The Love You Want Exists', 'Notice to Quit', 'Type Till You Bleed' and 'Swipe Right'.
Sadie Kaye - Producer
Sadie has worked as a TV & radio host, writer, performer and producer in London, Paris, LA and Hong Kong. Her humour column 'Sharp Pains' received nominations from the New York Festivals Radio Awards, On Air Fest and International Women's Podcast Awards. Her 'Bipolar Express' doc and 'Mental Ideas' podcasts won an award and nominations from the Association for International Broadcasting. Her humour columns and rants and musings on mental health have been published in many Hong Kong publications. She is a mental health ambassador for Mind HK and founder of Mental Ideas and Bipolar Hong Kong.
Sadie met Raff when they were cast in a West End play together as siblings. This family dynamic stuck and they have collaborated many times on film and TV projects, including 'Flim' and 'Transference'.
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