This six-minute 2005 short, “Alive in Joburg,” by South African director Neill Blomkamp, forms the basis for his “District 9.” Unlike the feature, it is set in 1990 under the apartheid government, during which time (in actual history) thousands of black South Africans were relocated from an area of Cape Town known as District 6 to make it an “all whites area.” (The same was done in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, setting of the feature film.)
District 9: Alive in Joburg
Jim Emerson
Jim Emerson is the founding editor of RogerEbert.com and has written lots of things in lots of places over lots of years. Mostly involving movies.