Alive in Joburg: A short film

Here is a pretty sweet short film by Neill Blomkamp that depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa. Brilliant use of subject and narrative elements, CGI, hand-held photography, editing, and what appears to be some very convincing stock footage with matted overlays.

What I really love about this short is how, despite the cool-but-simple special effects, it's not overly flashy or wrapped up in the science fiction and plays completely to the strengths and resources of the filmmakers. The documentary/drama/action hybridity work quite well in creating a film where the fantastic elements seem like they should be commonplace. Really, aside from some of the syntactic details, it's a simple satire, which works quite well in supporting the social commentary on race conflicts in South Africa (and the rest of the world).



[If you are having trouble viewing it here, click the title bar link]