Depot Asmara: A Story of Eritrea’s Railway

A train driver and mechanic lovingly maintain an old steam railway in Eritrea, revealing their country’s past.

In 1991, Eritrea emerged from a 30-year war of liberation from Ethiopia, a conflict that left its mark on the country’s landscape and is still deeply felt by many.

After it gained its independence in 1993, its steam railway, built during the Italian colonial period, was put back into operation.

Hinza, a young train driver, works alongside Fezahatsion, the elderly chief mechanic who remembers clearly how things used to be.

Little by little, the film’s poetic images offer a window into Eritrea today: A picture of standstill, of rebuilding what was lost, but above all, a picture of friendship and community.