Neill Blomkamp

Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African and Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the co-writer and director of the science fiction action film District 9 (2009), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the director of the dystopian science fiction action film Elysium (2013), which garnered moderately positive reviews. He also directed the science fiction action film Chappie (2015) and the biographical sports film Gran Turismo (2023). Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated visual effects, and his films often deal with themes of xenophobia and social segregation. He is also known for his collaborations with actor Sharlto Copley. Time named Blomkamp as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2009. A 2011 article in Forbes named him as the 21st most powerful celebrity from Africa. Early life Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the age of sixteen, he met Sharlto Copley, who had also attended Redhill High School in Johannesburg. Copley provided Blomkamp with the use of computers at his production company for Blomkamp to pursue his passion and talent for 3D animation and design. In return, Blomkamp assisted Copley in creating 3D work for pitches on various projects. Blomkamp was 18 when he moved to Vancouver with his family, where he enrolled at the Vancouver Film School.