Neill Blomkamp’s alien-apartheid parable could only have been made in one city: Johannesburg, where the shanty-town “District 9” was built on a real, recently cleared informal settlement on the edge of Soweto. The result feels less like science fiction than documentary – because so much of it is genuinely there.
Where was District 9 filmed?
District 9 was shot in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the alien settlement built at Chiawelo/Tshiawelo on the edge of Soweto, and city-centre scenes around Commissioner Street. Post-production and some studio work were handled in Wellington, New Zealand with Peter Jackson’s Weta.
The film’s power comes from that authenticity: rather than a built set, District 9 used a real township landscape, giving its alien slum an unnervingly true texture.
Every District 9 location, explained
Soweto – the alien settlement
The District 9 shanty town was built on an actual informal settlement at Tshiawelo, on the edge of Soweto, that was in the process of being cleared – real shacks, real dust, real Johannesburg.
Central Johannesburg – Commissioner Street
The city scenes, including one of the film’s final shots, used central Johannesburg around Commissioner Street and the Gandhi Square precinct.
Wellington, New Zealand – the studio work
Visual effects and some studio photography were completed in Wellington, at the Miramar facilities of Peter Jackson’s Weta – the effects powerhouse behind the film’s aliens.
Planning a visit
Johannesburg and Soweto are the real settings – Soweto tours are a major part of the city’s visitor scene, taking in the history the film so pointedly draws on. Central Johannesburg’s Gandhi Square is a redeveloped city hub, and the wider Gauteng region is the authentic backdrop to the whole film.
