Fred Amata is co-producing a film that features three foreign actors and is directed by his nephew Jeta Amata.

The actor was in Nairobi last Friday as part of the Nigerian contingent for the launch of the MUDI store in Kenya. “I have come straight from location in Abuja where we are shooting a movie about the crisis at the Niger Delta called the Black Gold”, he told reporters upon arrival.

The current conflict in the Niger Delta arose in the early 1990s over tensions between the foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta’s minority ethnic groups who felt they were being exploited, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw.

Competition for oil wealth has fueled violence between the different ethnic groups, causing the militarization of nearly the entire region by ethnic militia groups as well as Nigerian Military and police forces (notably the Nigerian Mobile Police).

“The foreign cast will play roles that will depict the dire situation. The lead female is played by Sarah Wayne Calliese, the actress who played the lead in Prison Break as Dr Sara Tancredi.

“William George “Billy” Zane Jr. also has a role in the movie, you all know him as the American actor who played the role of the jilted fiance, Caledon Hockley in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic.

“Another actor is Nigerian born Hakeem Kae-Kazim based in Los Angeles. He portrayed Jocard, in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and Georges Rutaganda in Hotel Rwanda.”

Fred said the budget for the movie is close to Kenyan Sh25million. ‘That’s around 30-50 million Naira”, says Amata