10 Sci-Fi Movies You Didn't Know Were Based On Real Life Events

10. District 9

Even though many sci-fi films are based on supernatural events, the inspiration for District 9 is a lot closer to home.

In Neil Blomkamp's directorial debut, an alien spaceship enters Earth's atmosphere and hovers above Johannesburg in South Africa. When the government discovers the vessel contains over a million malnourished aliens, they are placed in a shanty town called District 9. Although this encounter is seen as one of the most significant moments in history, humanity grows tired of the aliens after several years, perceiving them as a nuisance.

Despite the fact District 9 has visitors from another world, it's obvious that the story is an analogy to the segregation and xenophobia which South Africa experienced during the apartheid regime. Even the film's title is an unsubtle nod to District 6 - an area in Capetown populated by 60,000 people who were forcibly removed from their homes in the 1970s by the apartheid government.

Blomkamp has continued to make films revolving around segregation like Elysium and Chappie but District 9 is still his most powerful work by far.