Abstract

While the action movies of Ugandan film collective Wakaliwood resist description through the norms of classical Western aesthetics, nor can they be removed from the aesthetic sphere altogether and considered merely as projects for social inclusion. The question arises, therefore, of what interpretational framework can be brought to bear. Discussing Alessandro Bertinetto’s account of improvisation as distributed creativity, as well as the perspective of postcolonial theory, the paper observes that neither of these on its own succeeds in capturing what is distinctive about Wakaliwood’s films, but that in combination they may serve to introduce an ethical aspect into the philosophy of art that would otherwise be overlooked. This, the paper suggests, points towards a need to modify our understanding of aesthetic theory formation.