Essay Questions

What theme relates to a current political issue in the world and how does the director use genre to reveal it?

Neil Blomkamp creates District 9 as a refugee camp for aliens from outer space. He uses the sci-fi genre in order to speak clearly to the global issue of helping refugees that flee from war torn countries for safety in other nations. By using the sci-fi genre he is able to speak about a hot topic, that if filmed in a straight-forward way where the aliens were human beings could have potentially been a film that wouldn't be easy for many to watch. Instead, the genre increased viewership of a very seriously issue of our times.

Why is South Africa chosen by the director as the setting of the film?

Blomkamp is himself South African. He grew up during apartheid in his country and witnessed racism between the South African black and white people. He chose to set his film in his home country in order to explore topics of humanity for the world to see.

Why was the film shot primarily with a handheld camera?

The film was shot this way in order to create the feel of real life unfolding in front of us, as in a documentary. The style is supplemented with interview style cut ins by the director of characters playing employees that worked with Wikus. It is as if we are watching an event that actually occurred and charting the destruction of Wikus from the beginning to the end of his journey as a human before becoming an alien himself.