by Jase Luttrell

Posted: 1 September 2009

View Comments

brainwavez.org is taking a step away from reality to explore the alternate, alien-filled world of Neill Blomkamp's Alive In Joburg, the short film shot in 2005 that forms the basis for this year's blockbuster film District 9. Hopefully, if you can see past the poncho-wearing, grotesque aliens and the abundant anachronisms of the short, you will enjoy the splendid squalor of stranded aliens. Or something.

Alive In Joburg, completed in 2005, is a short film, the basis of which forms the blockbuster hit District 9. As a short film Alive In Joburg creates a compelling alternate reality though it is not a stand-alone production. It is clear that director Neill Blomkamp may have had big plans for this science-fiction interpretation of South Africa's apartheid history and some of his creative ideas remained intact for the feature film, although a number of his ideas were eliminated.

The short film is shot in a documentary style, set in 1990 (during apartheid), with interviews of locals regarding their opinions of the aliens interspersed with footage of the aliens trying to survive on the streets, mingling with humans, as it's before they were placed in the township called District 9. The short film is shot using hand-held cameras, which emphasises the documentary-style feel, and accentuates the realness of the scenario. A number of the shots are taken from helicopters, depicting the ships in the distance, as well as some of the encounters with the aliens.

What many viewers may not realise is that a number of the interview snippets in which the interviewees make references to "them" were actual interviews that were conducted with real people, not actors, except the interviewees were asked about their opinions of Zimbabweans (considered "aliens") rather than science-fiction aliens. This is a creative use of actual footage and an interesting display of "creating the other", a philosophical and sociological concept regarding racial hierarchies and classifications. The use of this footage is inventive, to say the least.

Familiar faces from District 9 also play roles in this short film, including Sharlto Copley, Wikus van de Merwe in the feature film, who served as the producer for Alive In Joburg and plays an unnamed sniper commenting on the size of the ships hovering over the Johannesburg airspace. The film also (apparently, acccording to IMDb) features Jason Cope, District 9's UKNR Chief Correspondent Grey Bradnam and the voice of Christopher Johnson, who served as the production and location manager on the short film.

The aliens look different from the District 9 feature film, mostly in stature (they are smaller), they wear clothing, and they have more tentacles coming from their mouths. Nearly all are completely covered, including their heads (presumably, this was to save costs on costuming full aliens). Their language is different: it is full of sibilant, fricative noises and the translations differ in syntactic structure; their phrasings in District 9 are similar to English phrasing, whereas in Alive In Joburg the language includes innovative clause structures, such as "the place here we cannot adapt / give us running water that we may hydrate".

The music, created by Drazen Bosnjak of Q Department, is mainly subdued, and begins as an ethereal soundscape. As the tension in the film grows the musical elements escalate accordingly, featuring tribal drumming to accentuate the rising tension and conflict in the film. During some key moments the music is absent, which creates a hollow, other-worldly experience as the viewer hears and sees the aliens up close for the first time.

Alive In Joburg provides a short description of the aliens' arrival, their being stranded on Earth, and their backgrounds. The majority of these descriptions remain in the feature film, though there are some significant differences. Overall, the ship in District 9 is drastically different, and there is only one ship, as opposed to the multiple ships portrayed in Alive In Joburg. Furthermore, in the short film it appears as though the aliens have access to their ships, as there are extensive networks of cables and pipes that run from power stations, private residences, and water sources towards the ships. This element, removed from District 9, is fascinating, because it exacerbates the tension between the aliens and humans, as the aliens are openly draining the human society of its resources. Finally, since the District 9 township doesn't yet exist, Alive In Joburg portrays the aliens as interacting (and ultimately interfering) with the day-to-day activities of human life.

Ultimately, Alive In Joburg is a great introduction to the reality Neill Blomkamp created in District 9. Viewing the short film expands on and develops some of the ideas and concepts that were glossed over in District 9, which provides some extra insight for fans curious to see where the origins of the feature film lie.

A Note About Anachronisms Alive In Joburg, though filmed in 2005, which is the reality that the visuals reflect, is inexplicably set in 1990, which was the year in which South Africa began to transition out of apartheid into a democratic country. It was a very different time that is not reflected accurately in the short but if you accept that this is the South Africa of 1990 then there are a startling number of anachronisms, most of which would have been easy for the filmmakers to remove, considering that their filmmaking techniques were sophisticated enough to make realistic robots, aliens, and spaceships. We've been discussing this back and forth at brainwavez.org but haven't been able to come to a conclusion as to why it was filmed this way, and we have to admit that it's left us confused. So we have no answers for you but, for those interested, some (though not all) of the anachronisms to look out for include: • The Vodacom, Telkom, and MTN advertising on billboards, buildings, and posters: none of these companies existed in 1990. They were founded in 1994, 1991, and 1994, respectively. • The FNB logo on the Soweto Towers, which was only redesigned to that form in the early 2000s. • The mural on the Soweto Towers, which was completed in 2003. • The Ponte City Apartments building (the tall, almost-cylindrical building seen at the end with the shot of the spaceships) featuring the anachronistic Vodacom logo. In 1990 the logo on top of the building was a giant, neon Coca-Cola sign. • The South African police force: many problems, including the fact that in 1990 police vehicles were yellow (there is one overhead shot in the short where you can see this very briefly) and the officers' uniforms were different. • Numerous cars that were manufactured after 1990 that can be seen in background shots. -- Mandy J Watson

Watch Online

 Spy Films: Alive In Joburg [ Streaming Flash Video (49.4 MB); 480x360 ]

brainwavez.org Opinion

Rating: 8/10

Rewatchability: 6/10

In One Word: Imaginative

Key Facts: Alive In Joburg

Year: 2005

Running Time: 06:26

Genres: Drama, Science Fiction

Official Site: http://www.spyfilms.com/#neill_blomkamp/alive_in_joburg

Credits:
    Director: Neill Blomkamp
    Cast:
      Dawie Ackermann ... Afrikaans Professor
      Jason Cope ... UN Official / Alien
      Sharlto Copley ... Sniper
      Braam Greyling ... Cop 1
      Godfrey Seome ... Cop 2
    Producers:
      Sharlto Copley ... producer
      Simon Hansen ... producer
      Robin Hays ... co-producer
      Kirk Karasin ... co-producer
      Carlo Trulli ... executive producer
      Shannon Worley ... co-producer
    Original Music: Drazen Bosnjak (co-composer), Clinton Shorter
    Casting: Laura Stewart
    Makeup Designer: Alien: Willard Cochrane
    Sound Designer: Francois Lafleur
      [ full credits ]

On The Internet

Official Site: Spy Films