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Nollywood Filmmaker Sings To His 'African Queen'

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now one more word. You just heard Nigeria's finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala point out that one of that country's most successful industries is its movie business. Nollywood, as it's called, churns out more than 1,000 films a year. And with more than a million people, it is reported to be the country's second-largest employer. That's thanks to filmmakers like Jeta Amata. He's been a major player since the industry's humble beginnings 20 years ago. For our regular feature called In Your Ear where we ask guests to tell us about the songs they've been listening to, we can hear the music he shared with us.

JETA AMATA: My name is Jeta Amata, a filmmaker, and what's playing in my ear is "Love Is All Around," by Wet Wet Wet.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS ALL AROUND")

AMATA: It's such a poetic song and goes back to my daughter. When I listen to it, I feel it in my fingers. I feel it in my toes, and I just love her so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CLARINET CONCERTO: ALLEGRO")

AMATA: "Allegro: Clarinet Concerto," by Mozart, and nothing relaxes me more than to just listen to it. It inspires me.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AFRICAN QUEEN")

AMATA: "African Queen," by 2Face.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AFRICAN QUEEN")

AMATA: Each time I look at my daughter, I see an African queen, and I just love to sing it to her. Oh, you should see the smile on her face right now. She's smiling.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AFRICAN QUEEN")

MARTIN: That's Nigerian filmmaker Jeta Amata telling us what's playing in his ear. To hear our previous conversation with him, just head to NPR.org, click on the programs tab and then go to TELL ME MORE. And that's our program for today. I'm Michel Martin, and you've been listening to TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Let's talk more tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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