Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) This 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.

estebangonzalez10 "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/

WakenPayne This Is The Movie That Was An Abstract Short Movie Version Of District 9 Which Is A Nominee For best Picture At The Oscars. I Decided To Watch The Original Short Alive In Joburg.This Is An Interesting Sci-Fi But To Me The Movie Is A Metaphor For Racism. You Look At This "Boat People" Thing Going On Right Now Them Living In Crap Conditions...In This Its The Same Thing But Instead Of People You Get A Squid Humanoid. As This Goes It Explains What The Hell Happened With The Aliens In Documentary Style With Riots.To Fully Watch This & Enjoy It You Have To Be In The Right Frame Of Mind. This Is Not Action Packed(The Only Action Is Against The Battle Suits), This Is Pretty Much A Less Violent Version Of "Halo" But Overall...Yes This Movie Is Enjoyable.

MartinHafer 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.