The documentary was directed by Dr. Zhang Yong, Associate Professor of the African Research Institute, and the multinational production team brought together filmmakers, scholars, and experts from Africa, China, and Europe to visit platforms, cities, villages, and witnesses along the Tanzania-Zambia Railway from an international perspective, leading the audience to feel the true status of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, the largest African aid project of New China.

There are three episodes in the film, namely “A Railway of Friendship”, “The Life Line” and “Love for Tazara”, digging deeply into the cultural connotation of the railway from the dimensions of the history of building, the impact of the railway on the people along the route, and its influence upon Chinese and African youths. Among them:

The first episode “A Railway of Friendship” explores the unknown history from the perspective of the game between China and the West behind the construction, with a glimpse of the agenda setting of the Western media. The filming team interviewed the founding President of Tanzania, Nyerere’s wife Maria, former Prime Minister of Tanzania Salim, Tanzanian Minister of Transportation during the building period, and many other historical witnesses, and collected a lot of precious historical materials.

The second episode “The Life Line” tells that ever since the construction in the 1970s, as time pass by, the role of the railway has declined, but it is still the source to survival and a road to life for residents in poor and remote areas. The production team went deep into dozens of sites and villages along the railway to conduct oral interviews, recorded the true status of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, and took pictures of the scenery, animals, folk customs, and ceremonies along the entire Tanzania-Zambia Railway.

The third episode “Love for Tazara” has drew its inspiration from Ma Ji’s crosstalk “Ode to Friendship”. It tells that the Tanzania-Zambia Railway is the original memory of Africa for an entire generation. To this day, many people still go to Africa or come to China for the railway. This episode focuses on the story of the Chinese crews, including experts on the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, cemetery managers and Confucius Institute volunteers, and truly records the “Tanzania emotion” shared by the people of China, Tanzania and Zambia.