Completely Different, Exactly the Same

In the Balkans, a feminist voice rises against oppression. And take action. 

At a crossroads of borders in the Balkans, Sabina Talović, a feminist activist, faces the violence of a patriarchal system with unwavering resolve. From the Yugoslav wars to the racism of new nationalisms, her voice bears witness to how acts of solidarity are always completely different while remaining fundamentally unchanged. A humbly caring and sharp debut film by Marianna Giorgia Marchesini.

Programme section: New Talents Competition
Original title: Completely Different, Exactly the Same | Year: 2025 | Duration: 30′
Country: Montenegro, Italy | Language: Montenegrin, English, Arabic | Subtitles: English
Director: Marianna Giorgia Marchesini | Production: Marianna Giorgia Marchesini – Ezme Film
Cast: Sabina Talović, Azra Memović, Umejja Memović, Nur Memović | Cinematography: Giovanni Benini Editing: Beatrice Segolini | Sound: Luca Mantovani, Marianna Giorgia Marchesini, Matilde Ramini, Stefano Bernardi

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

PerSo, Perugia Social Film Festival, 2025 – Short Competition | DOK Leipzig, 2025 – DOK Film Market

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Marianna Giorgia Marchesini graduated in Languages for International Communication and Cooperation from the Université de Savoie-Mont Blanc (Chambéry, France), and in Anthropology, Ethnography, and Ethnolinguistics from Ca’ Foscari University (Venice, Italy). Marianna is interested in various forms of languages; she approaches visual anthropology to explore themes related to freedom of movement and gender issues. Since 2014, she has been collaborating with NGOs, cultural associations, and film festivals as a translator, project designer, and trainer.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

They were days of great solidarity. Everyone mobilised in a great and silent race of solidarity to help these boys who, for two years, had lived like prey animals, constantly moving from one area to another to avoid being trapped by patrols. These are the words of Adele Zenari, my great-grandmother on my mother’s side, reported in an old and yellowed local newspaper, remembering the moment when she hid a young English soldier from the Nazi-fascists in her own home along with her 11 children. Yet, aren’t the migrants on the Balkan route also hunted like prey animals by the border police, who often act cynically and with impunity in violation of international laws? Reading online about Sabina’s story, committed to rescuing and welcoming these people and families, immediately made me think about how much political solidarity is still hidden in the world today, impatiently waiting to be recognised by history as the only right choice. Encapsulating Sabina’s precious testimony first in anthropological research and then in a cinematic work was for me an urgent desire, a profound sharing.