This year, the Tanzania–Zambia Railway turns fifty. The Eastern African rail line stretches over more than 1,800 kilometres, connecting the port of Dar es Salaam with the town of Kapiri Mposhi via Zambia’s copperbelt. The project – conceived in the 1960s and carried out in the 1970s – was a collaboration between the two African countries and Chairman Mao’s People’s Republic of China. At the time, long before the Belt and Road Initiative, it was the latter’s largest foreign aid project.
The film TAZARA stories explores the inter-cultural aspects of the railway, telling the story of its construction from the perspective of those who actually built it: Zambian, Tanzanian and Chinese workers. As part of this year’s golden jubilee celebrations, the documentary – co-authored by Jamie Monson – will be screening at the Kilimanjaro Film Festival on 9 July 2026.
Further information: Monson, Jamie (2009). Africa’s Freedom Railway: How a Chinese Development Project Changed Lives and Livelihoods in Tanzania.