Last week, one of the most-lauded science fiction films of the year was released digitally, on demand, and in cinemas in New York and the Bay Area. The film, Advantageous, a special jury award-winner at Sundance, tells the story of a single mother and the sacrifices she makes for her daughter in a pre-dystopian, near-future not unlike our own time.

Starring Jacqueline Kim (Star Trek Generations), Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty), and Ken Jeong (The Hangover), the film’s writer/director Jennifer Phang recently joined Keith for a special one-on-one edition of Hard NOC Life.

Topics covered on the show include:

• Jennifer’s reaction to the near-universal praise the movie has received since its Sundance debut
• The evolution  of Advantageous from its start as part of PBS’ short film anthology to being a feature length film
  
• How the film uses the sci-fi genre to tackles themes of race, gender, class, age, and socio-economics
• Casting Jacqueline Kim as Gwen and her involvement in writing the feature
  
• Directing Ken Jeong’s first dramatic role and how The Hangover led to his involvement in the movie
• How they lucked into casting a child actor as brilliant as Samantha Kim
• Why the film is considered feminist and the multiple ways to define feminism and femininity

• All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on your screen, hit “play,” and check this.

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