Sci-Fi in South Africa

South Africa is already the leader of the African tech sector but it’s well on it’s way to becoming the film center of the continent as well. Black Box Office posted this today…

2009 is turning out to be an incredible year for science fiction news, and it’s only April. The latest movie news to have us super-excited is a very secret project called “District 9″. Peter Jackson is producing it, and Neill Blomkamp, who is directing the “Halo” movie, is directing. Neill is from South Africa, and D-9 is apparently based on his short film “Alive in Joburg” (short for Johannesburg), which you can see here. Now, if this all sounds familiar to you, you were probably at Comic-Con last year and scratched your head at the posters and signs scattered everywhere.

While the story seems to have some pretty derivative elements, stuff from from Alien Nation, to “V”, and a host of other stories, it’s VERY original in its execution. Most alien visitors come to Southern California or a desert region…but what would happen if they landed in Southern Africa? And instead of aggressively blowing up capital cities all over and invading, what if they allowed themselves to be treated like second class citizens? Yeah, we’re feeling this. The unofficial word for release is August of this year.