10 Best Directorial Debut Films Of The 21st Century (So Far)

Neill Blomkamp has never quite been able to replicate the same success his directorial debut achieved back in 2009, but that’s okay because said film was District 9, and that’s a tough act to top. It is a truly mind-blowing spectacle combining social commentary with science fiction to create a modern-day masterpiece.

With four Oscar nods, District 9 is radical and revolutionary in every sense of the word. Set in contemporary Johannesburg, South Africa, the film opts in and out of a documentarian style of filmmaking in which humans are still adapting to sharing their planet with an alien species that arrived on Earth many years before.

Nicknamed Prawns, the extra-terrestrials are segregated from humans due to both species’ inability to co-exist within a favela-inspired, slum-style camp. It’s an ingenious concept that explores thematic social matters including poverty, racism and war.

Produced by Peter Jackson and his long-time producing partner Carolynne Cunningham, it's no wonder the picture is as good as it is. However, that would be doing a disservice to Blomkamp’s extraordinary work, as well aslead actor Sharlto Copley, who has developed into one of his country’s finest.

Blomkamp’s next project will see him adapting the famous video game Gran Turismo for the silver screen this summer, but remember, Neill, we’re still waiting on that District 9 sequel.