District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp. Set in an alternate present-day South Africa, the film tells the story of an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth. When a government agent is tasked with relocating
District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action film directed and co-written by Neill Blomkamp. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James, and was adapted from Blomkamp's 2005 short film Alive in Joburg. The film is partially presented in a mockumentary format by featuring fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras. It begins in an alternate 1982, when an alien spaceship appears over Johannesburg, South Africa. When a population of diseased and malnourished insectile and crustaceous aliens are discovered on the ship, the South African government confines the asylum seekers to an internment camp called District 9. The title and premise of District 9 were predominantly inspired by events in Cape Town's District Six, during the apartheid era. The film explores themes of humanity, racism, xenophobia, social segregation, and medical torture.