District 9 depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa. After plans for a big screen Halo movie to be produced by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and directed by Neil Blomkamp fell through because of budgetary concerns, District 9 was announced. Neil Blomkamp is of course the South African director who made a splash with that Citroen car morphing into a dancing giant robot commercial a few years back.

"We have seen some of [director] Neil [Blomkamp]'s enormously creative work launching Halo 3 and he is a true talent who understands how to use visual effects in full service of the story. With Peter Jackson and his team at WETA workshop working with Neil, we believe District 9 can be a true event tent pole on our release slate," said Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

It was filmed on location in South Africa.

Source: http://www.scifimoviepage.com/upcoming/previews/district9.html