How text reflects context: Representation of African film audiences in Aristotle’s Plot

This article analyses how Aristotle’s Plot reflects on the context of film-making and film reception in Africa. Aristotle’s Plot represents the relation between an African film-maker and African film audiences consuming foreign movies and disapproving African cinema. The problem of how the production and consumption of African cinema is affected by the importation of films crafted elsewhere cannot be reduced to the question how to make African films available for their audiences. Neither can the problem solely be posed in terms of the alienation of African audiences and film-makers. In Aristotle’s Plot, Bekolo caricatures both the African film-maker (E.T.) and African audiences (Cinema) and thereby translates two views on spectatorship. However, the film itself suggests a perspective on spectatorship and film-making beyond the opposition of appropriation on the one hand and alienation on the other.