No Aliens Allowed! Humans Behind ‘District 9’ Speak
Posted August 14, 2009 2:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Director Neil Blomkamp met actor Shalto Copley in high school, where they found they shared a love of computer animation. Now they’re on a media tour to promote their first feature film, District 9 — a science-fiction horror produced by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.
Blomkamp, a South African who grew up in Vancouver, was attached to direct the film adaptation of the video game HALO, which Jackson was producing. Blomkamp won the coveted job after impressing Jackson with his demo reel.
“[Jackson] received all my commercials, short films and stuff and then offered me the job,” the director explains during our chat in Toronto. “I flew down to New Zealand immediately and we started working on HALO.”
But after about five months into the HALO production the film fell apart and studio execs pulled the plug. Jackson wanted to keep working with him though, and the next day they started production on extending one of Blomkamp’s short films, Alive in Joburg, into a feature. This evolved into District 9.
“The whole film is because he was attached. You can’t do something as untraditional as this as a first-time director unless you have a very powerful producer like that.” Blomkamp notes.
District 9 successfully blends sci-fi, horror and comedy while using documentary style filmmaking to tell the story of aliens coming to Earth and being housed in a makeshift ghetto. It’s been receiving solid buzz since sci-fi fans first glimpsed scenes from it online a few months ago, with many wondering what it is and where it came from. Critics are praising it for re-energizing the stale alien genre.
The film had that same feeling of constant doom as Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. Blomkamp seems to have heard this reference before when I bring it up.
“I had no one film in my mind. The inspiration was meant to come from South Africa. The science fiction itself — source of styled ships, the kind of weapons, the exo suit … a lot of that stuff is taken from science fiction in general [and] melted down to my version of it.”
Copley stars as the lead Wikus van der Merwe, an awkward bureaucrat who is in charge of evicting the aliens from District 9 to District 10 when the people of Johannesburg complain about the slum being too close to the city. His role shifts in tone from comedic to horrific, as circumstances lead to him becoming an alien himself.
“[Neil] called me up and said, ‘Dude. I want to do this sci-fi stuff in an African environment…help me out for the shoot.’ I [usually] help with working behind the scenes. It was a surprise to end up in the movie.”
Copley’s influences come mainly from comedians, “From when I was young I really enjoyed Eddie Murphy in his early stuff. Guys that do multiple characters — Robin Williams and Jim Carrey are some of the guys I really enjoy.”
Blomkamp has a more traditional response about his influences.
“James Cameron, probably number one. Ridley Scott, [Stanley] Kubrick, Peter Jackson – those are my top guys. Lucas as well, but not as much.”
Digging about whether we’ll see District 10 one day, Blomkamp responds, “We’d both love to make it if this film does well.” Copley adds, “Can you convince people to go and watch it?”
District 9 opens in theatres today.
Top image: Neil Blomkamp and Sharlto Copley.
Middle image: Scene from District 9. Courtesy Sony Pictures.
