This is an amazing short-film from a director that is just beginning his career. Neill Blomkamp blends the latest FX techniques with a keen photojournalistic style to bring a sci-fi vision of a South African future. It is the near-future and alien refuges have arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. The short takes a news documentary approach to tell the story of the aliens struggle to integrate into apartheid like culture. It raises an interesting social commentary on a galactic scale. Neill Blomkamp has been around for a very short time. He has done a few commercial advertising spots and some short films. Perhaps his biggest up and coming film is the tapping by Microsoft to work with Peter Jackson on the film version of the incredible video game "Halo". This project will be well suited to Mr. Blomkamp's style of mixing realistic and sci-fi environments. "Halo" shares a similar theme with Alive In Joburg, they both feature an alien invasion of Africa with a military response.
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MaxBorg896 March 2010It doesn't happen every day that an aspiring filmmaker is offered the chance to direct a big Hollywood project on the basis of a six-minute science fiction short. And yet that's what happened to South African director Neill Blomkamp, whom Peter Jackson chose for the subsequently abandoned Halo project after viewing a DVD of Alive in Joburg. It's easy to see what caught the Lord of the Rings director's eye: few shorts boast such ambition and originality.
Set and filmed in Johannesburg, also known as Joburg locally, the story is that of the population's encounter with an alien race. Naturally, the ETs are viewed as hostile invaders that have to be dealt with quickly and without mercy. Conflict is inevitable.
So far, so predictable. What, then, makes Alive in Joburg such an inspired achievement? The fact that most of it doesn't look like sci-fi at all, but rather newsreel footage of something more troubling than an alien invasion: racial conflict. Before the ETs are unveiled, Blomkamp's documentary approach has us believe that the interviewees are referring to human immigrants, not alien ones. Thus science fiction's ability to act as a metaphor is masterfully employed to establish parallels between a fictional close encounter and real-life ethnic struggles, with the unusual setting (for an SF story, that is) heightening the frightening sense of reality.
If one has to find a flaw in Blomkamp's gritty, hand-held examination of racism with an otherworldly twist, it would be the fact that the film is - no pun intended - too short, more premise than proper story. However, considering Blomkamp's ambitions must have been justifiably narrow at the time, such a misstep is easily forgivable, even more so with hindsight: with the Halo film shelved, the director was given a chance to expand on his original idea. And so the excellent District 9 was born... -
I saw this film online tonight and had no idea what it was. However, I was was quite impressed by this short movie due not only to its excellent use of a small budget (making it look pretty professional and expensive) but by the amazing plot. In this parallel world, there was no Black Aparteid in South Africa. Instead, aliens came to Earth looking for a home and the Aparteid system was created just for them. And also on this strange "bizarro" world, Blacks and Whites have much common ground, as they agree that the aliens are no good, lazy, smelly and worthless--just like the propaganda that was spouted for so long to excuse Apartheid in the REAL South Africa until only the last couple decades. The juxtaposition was great--especially when the viewers no doubt find themselves feeling terrible pity for these alien creatures--like more of us SHOULD have been feeling about Apartheid.
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MrVibrating25 January 2007Good blend of CGI and journalism type hand-cam stuff. Most of the things we see look realistic, except the aliens themselves, since makeup is still very expensive compared to CGI. Seeing Independence Day style ships hover over Johannesburg was probably the coolest part.
In terms of plot feels very short and a little rushed, but nevertheless shows some promise for Neil as a special effects guy and possibly a director. The movie is an obvious jab at apartheid and the irony in humanity. Various black people who not two decades ago where themselves oppressed react with fear and suspicion towards the aliens.
It's available on the Internet, so you should check it out. It will be interesting to see what Neil can do with larger projects. -
Rex_Stephens11 May 2009I hunted this short down after watching the trailer for District 9. And you have to hand it to Blonkampp for avoiding a plot-driven mess that this movie could have made. It's interesting to set the film in South Africa as well. The many perceptions throughout Alive in Joburg creates the questions needed to ask about these aliens that are genuinely terrifying in appearance. And the open-ended finale can be finally touched upon 4 years after Blonkampp began this. Does anyone think Blonkampp has the chops to handle Halo if District 9 works out? The short and the trailer would have you think so, but honestly, let's wait for August to continue that debate.
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marioxavie31 August 2006What an amazing short movie. As other reviewers have stated, the movie does manage to convey a feeling of racism not between humans but the racism that occurs towards these squid-like aliens. It was a very real and effective message that creates a metaphor that sometimes only fantasy can convey.
This short has gained attention recently because the director was chosen by Peter Jackson to direct the movie adaptation of "Halo". For those of you unfamiliar with the game, this is the perfect man for the job.
For those of you looking for this movie, it can be easily found on Video.Google.Com -
estebangonzalez1018 March 2015"We don't want to be here, this place doesn't want us... we have nothing, nothing."
I feel like Neil Blomkamp has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for Elysium and Chappie, but there is no doubt in my mind that much of that has to do with how much expectations we put on him after delivering one of the better sci-fi pics of the decade, District 9. His style hasn't changed much, but of course the social commentary from that film hasn't had the same impact in his most recent films. In 2005 Blomkamp made an interesting short that would later be the basis for his feature film District 9. In Alive in Joburg he already had the social commentary of the story worked out through this documentary style film making and even had Sharlto Copley play a small role in a film he would later star in (and which would change his career). The social commentary here is just as sharp as in District 9, and Neil actually incorporated interviews of many South Africans referring to Zimbabwean refugees in real life which in the short are made to be referring to the aliens that have invaded Johannesburg. It is a clear metaphor of racism and division of social classes (referring to South Africa's Apartheid era). It's also impressive to see some of the special effects here, which look great for a film shot on such a low budget. So impressive that it caught Peter Jackson's attention at the time who wanted Neil to direct the screenplay adaptation of Halo, but the project was later shelved. I'm glad Blomkamp was given the funds to expand this small film into a full feature length movie, because it turned out to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade: District 9.
http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/ -
This impressive short takes a documentary form, but it's definitely no Christopher Guest style mockumentary. Instead it's got aliensreally realistic looking ones, with mech-style "bio-suits". Set in an imaginary South Africa where aliens have landed and taken up residence, Alive in Joburg poses as a documentary intent on examining how life has changed for residents there, interchanging interviews with realistic CG. The visuals are excellent and while the film's attempt to equate the aliens reception by locals with South Africa's Apartheid era are somewhat transparent, any attempt at social metaphor earns kudos from me.
The director, Neill Blomkamp, is celebrated for his advertising work, and won for himself based largely on this short I would presumethe directing gig for the new Halo film. I must say, based on this film, it looks like a truly inspired choice.
Check out all of our weekly reviews at ShortoftheWeek.com -
Anonymous_Maxine15 August 2006It is easy to see Neill Blomkamp's directorial skills in this short film, which runs kind of like a news broadcast documentary that gives a peek into the frightening situation in a South African town after some not so pleasant aliens have set up permanent residence there. It is a kind of journalistically objective look at how the lives of the local townspeople have been altered, mostly for the worse, by the arrival of the aliens. Visually, it is a stunningly effective film, especially with the mother ships floating just over the skyline, and the film is packed with one unsettling image after another. Having been signed on by Peter Jackson to film the highly anticipated screen adaptation of the wildly popular video game Halo, it is easy to see from this film why he was chosen despite having almost no directing experience at all to take on what will surely be a hugely popular film.
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Gilberto_Train15 August 2006Most interesting in this film it's that, on the one hand, it's a science fiction. On the other hand, in contrast of what it happens in the majority of these films, history occurs in the past, in 90's. The director Neill Blomkamp uses a clear metaphor of racism, not only between whites and blacks, but between races in a ampler way. Using sci-fi and journalistic and documentary style, Blomkamp displays a courageous vision of the conflict between the races: if we observe intently, the great majority of that who discriminate aliens is the African people; ironically, they are those that would have to better understand the situation of aliens. The moral of Neill Blomkamp's fable is that any race can be racist, if it not have understanding. It is a beautiful film, and an appeals for compassion and peace between races.
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afterlife-211 November 2006The folks at spy films have managed to waste a whole bunch of money again on a piece of junk movie with awful animations. The movie is in regard to a landing of aliens in Africa where they than are treated awfully and live under bad conditions. Althoguh the plot could possibly be taken and used to make some what of a feature length film the film just shows the amount of crummy work produced by spy films. Apparently hearsay says one of their directors is scheduled to be directing the halo movie which will no doubt to turn out to become one of the box offices biggest BOMBS. It's times like this you wish Canadian film companies actually spent some time to look at the junk their putting out and tried to properly compete with American ones. All in all not a very good flick
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bob the moo28 November 2007A documentary looking back a decade whenever aliens arrived in the already divided city of Johannesburg. The film shows the modern day enforcement action being taken against the inhabitants while also interviewing the original residents of the city as to why the tensions and divisions are only getting worse.
I cannot remember how I stumbled into this film but I suspect it was as a result of the buzz surrounding director Blomkamp and some of the projects he has been associated with of late. Set in South Africa the film is a strange mix of social commentary, sci-fi and special effects. So we get an impressive (for the budget) gunfight with a robotic-style alien combined with heavy linkages between the treatment of the aliens in the film and the treatment of blacks within South Africa. It is quite cleverly done but not as clever as some have suggested here. The metaphor is a good one but it is perhaps not as subtle as I would have liked and, even at 6 minutes long I still felt myself thinking "yeah, the aliens = black people, I get it". I am being a bit harsh on it of course and this "failing" (my words only) is not that big a deal.
Even if this aspect is a bit obvious, the "message" is not overly rammed down our throats but rather left hanging there. I would have liked it to ask its questions more obviously to the audience to force you beyond the simple message and make the audience question their own view on the aliens. Personally I did have a bit of a thought process about supporting the action against the aliens and I would have liked the film to guide me more down this bigoted path before pulling me back and confronting me with my own thoughts as it is though the script is not smart enough to make that happen to the degree I would have liked.
Blomkamp's direction is good though and I did think that the budget was well used in the effects and the way they were delivered (the use of news style footage helped cover the limitations of the effects at some points). Overall then an interesting but perhaps too obvious film that delivers it message in a solid manner but didn't confront and challenge me as a viewer in the way that it could have done with more subtly and guile about it. -
Hitchcoc26 April 2019This is like a news report on a mass of aliens that have landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. These creatures are ugly by our standards, but are trying to carve out a life. The government has no idea what to do with them. If one saw this for the first time he might conclude that this was really happening.
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Great effort for a short film that eventually became an amazing Sci-Fi film.
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Horst_In_Translation9 July 2015This is "Alive in Joburg", the third effort as a filmmaker for South African Neil Blomkamp. Obviously, these 7 minutes were the basis for his hugely successful "District 9", a movie that I absolutely loved. They packed the very basics of the feature film into this short film already. There is a huge spaceship flying over Johannesburg and aliens have come down and created a colony in the South African metropolis. They live at the lowest of possible conditions in terms of sanitary, nutrition and health. People are clearly against them.
Sharlto Copley, who plays the main character in "District 9", also has a short appearance here as an interviewee. It's actually his first on-screen appearance ever. Blomkamp seems to have a tendency to remake his early works ("Tetra Vaal") as full feature films ("Chappie") and I applaud him what he turned "Alive in Joburg" into. However, I cannot say I was particularly well entertained by this short film from almost 10 years ago. Not recommended. -
Michael_Elliott25 April 2016Alive in Joburg (2005)
*** (out of 4)
Neill Blomkamp's short film is basically what we would eventually see in DISTRICT 9 as a group of aliens land on Earth looking for a place to live.
Is this movie flawless? Not even close but it's extremely well-made and it makes you really impressed with what the director was able to do with such a small budget. We get an interview with one of the actors and this here is just the structure for what's going on in the "outside" world where we then see footage of the aliens as well as news footage of the events going on. Blomkamp is very creative in the way he edits all of the footage together and he does a very good job with very little money. Fans of DISTRICT 9 will certainly want to check this out.