The Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania is expected to attract films from 43 countries to the annual event scheduled on July 10 to July 18.

With the theme of "Hopes in Harmony", the film festival provides one opportunity for all Zanzibaris to come and watch films for free on a big screen, and calls for peace and harmony in Zanzibar, the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Opening films includes "I Bring What I Love", which takes the audience behind the scenes and into the world of Africa's most famous musician Youssou N'dour.

Among the special highlights this year's festival is the world Cup final, which would scream the climax of this extraordinary African football extravaganza on late July 11 in the old fort.

Many of the films to be shown at the festival have highlighted every day life of women in the society, according to the press release. It also includes performing arts, which is a street theatre component and it shall work with the literary forum in showcasing the spoken word in an event and it will bring the local repertories to contact with other spoken word performances.

The film festival is seen by the government as a symbol of enhancing Zanzibar culture and acts as a factor of propagating Zanzibar tourism sector, and thus enabling more tourists to visit Zanzibar and boosting Zanzibar economy.