It went to top of the US box office on its release last week (14 August 2009), making District 9 Sony/Tri-Star's highest opening day for an R-rated August release, after 2007's Superbad and last summer's Pineapple Express.
Writer and director Blomkamp, who was born in South Africa and moved to Canada about a decade ago, explains where the idea for District 9 originally came from: "I was a science-fiction nut when I was growing up in Johannesburg. I just wanted to see that kind of imagery in a third world setting with the complex political history of South Africa."
Michael Murphey, a co-producer on the film, believes that it's a unique South African movie. He told The Star Tonight!: “A great movie like Tsotsi shows off what South Africans can do, while a larger movie like Blood Diamond was basically a Hollywood movie that came here. This is a combination. This is a South African attempt at making a blockbuster.”
LA Times writer Chris Lee calls District 9 “the world's first autobiographical alien apartheid movie. Writer-director Neill Blomkamp grew up in Johannesburg during an era of white minority rule; later, memories of the apartheid government's social divisiveness and authoritarian control became ‘the most powerful influence' in shaping his creative vision.”
Explains Jackson about the film, "These aliens arrived 20 years ago in a dead, derelict mothership, which hovers above Johannesburg. It's enormous, like the size of 10 football fields. The aliens have ended up in a Soweto-style township beneath the ship. It's clear that they're not really integrating into society..."
“We're increasingly finding Gauteng and South Africa are attracting global shoots, due to our versatile locations and outstanding production skills and crew - and District 9 is an excellent showcase for our talents and locations, having been filmed entirely in our Province,” says Tselane, adding that this growing international recognition and acceptance is undoubtedly having a positive impact on the SA film industry sector.
“Soweto is becoming a popular location for both international and local filmmakers and it's not surprising, as it has so much to offer, particularly when it comes to gritty realism, and feedback we've received from crews shooting there is how welcoming and supportive the residents are.”
Blomkamp's District 9 had a relatively short development time, and was shot in Kliptown and Tshiawelo in Soweto and around downtown Johannesburg in June and December last year.
The GFC, which has a stated commitment to making the province a film-friendly environment and of actively supporting the filmmaking industry, reports that it has come in for praise for its willing and professional assistance.
International film publication Variety.com had this to say: “Local producers single out the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) for praise. ‘They were extremely supportive and helpful on District 9. With the GFC and the National Film and Video Foundation, we really felt like we had friends in government,” says Michael Murphey of Kalahari Pictures, which co-produced District 9.”
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