By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
“The A-List: 15 Stories from the Asian and Pacific Diasporas” is a series of first-person “vignettes” about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). Directed by Eugene Yi, and featuring a diverse selection of AAPIs from a wide range of careers and backgrounds, “The A-List” is the latest in a series of “List” format HBO documentaries and books meant to spotlight underrepresented communities. The Northwest Asian Weekly spoke to Yi about the film.
Each of these “List” films, Yi told us, is an attempt at a “group portrait.” While each “List” suggests similarities among the selected community, it also emphasizes differences. Yi described to us the arduous process of narrowing down an original list of around 500 candidates to the final 15 AAPIs included in the documentary. They wanted to be sure, he said, to the best of their ability that no particular set of AAPIs was left out. For this reason, there is a Guamanian, or Chamorro; there are East Asians, Southeast Asians, and South Asians. Yi recalls another team member being told, “Oh, you’re going to include Pakistanis this time?” Yes, and also Afghanis. “I wanted to make sure that we were able to be as broad as we could be,” Yi said.
While the documentary is, for the most part, serious in tone, as a viewer, it is enjoyable to watch each vignette without knowing who is coming next. It’s a fun surprise each time. The documentary starts with the indomitable Sandra Oh, who talks about what it was like being a part of “Grey’s Anatomy” in a time of very little AAPI representation in film and television. “It was feeling alone—because the system makes it that way,” Oh says. The film then turns to Yia Vang, a Hmong chef who has a restaurant in Minneapolis. Vang described how he felt as if he grew up with two different lives—a Hmong life at home and an American life in school. As a kid, Vang didn’t want to be Hmong. Now, he shares his identity through the food he cooks.
I liked the mix of well-known and lesser known people in the film. (I also liked that the AAPI list gets to be called “The A-List”.) It’s always interesting to hear something new from the likes of Kumail Nanjiani, for instance. At the same time, it’s intriguing to listen to the stories of someone you might not know yet, like Vang or Pakistani DJ Rekha. Many identities are explored in “The A-List,” not just AAPI identities. DJ Rekha is queer. Another interviewee, Schuyler Bailar, is trans. Through asking each person probing questions about their own unique stories, we get a sense of how identities shift, mix, and divide. We see how the approach to being Asian, or female, or gay, has changed over the decades. Connie Chung, for example, says that she tried to act like a white male since that’s who surrounded her in her career. Pakistani astrophysicist, Nergis Malvalvala, says she survives being a minority by also being a “maverick.”
“The negotiation of my identity is still an ongoing project,” says Nanjiani. Some of those interviewed grew up trying to be small. Others have always been loud. Amanda Nguyen, recently known for her trip to space with Blue Origin, became an advocate for women who have experienced sexual assault by passing a law ensuring rape kits would not be destroyed. Something many of those in “The A-List” have in common is they realized that, by creating space for others like them, they immediately create safe, community space. DJ Rekha remembers Sikh men being targets of racist violence after 9/11. At that time, Rekha had a realization that they had to keep deejaying. “The party” had to go on, exactly because “it wasn’t just a party.” As AAPIs, Rekha said, “when we walk through a door, it is our responsibility to bring other people through that door…we have to speak up against oppression against all people.”
“We pretty much asked everyone, ‘What do you identify as?’” Yi shared. For some, the answer was very straightforward; for others, such as Rekha, it was a “slippery slope,” Yi said. For those in the documentary, and for Yi himself, context is important. It depends on who you are with. “Diversity was something that was important to us, and underscores the project overall,” Yi continued. “The diversity of people that we are trying to squeeze in and the ways that we all do try to build community, with everything on ‘hard mode.’” The fact that there are so many different kinds of people under the identity of AAPI is something Yi finds very inspirational. And the fact that, when they get together, they always find solidarity and connection.
Yi’s parents emigrated from Korea. He identifies as “of Korean descent.” As a father. As a filmmaker. As an advocate for AAPIs. Yi has become known for his documentary work and is part of the Asian American Documentary Network. He told us that he gets asked when he will make a fiction film and not a documentary. He has some projects in the works, he answers, yet telling the stories of his fellow AAPIs is his passion. He will always be happy to do so. Especially in recent times, Yi said, “It feels like there’s more of a need than ever for more of our stories to get out there. I appreciate that this film can get 15 more faces and 15 more stories out there and keep making sure that we’re represented.”
“The A-List: 15 Stories from the Asian and Pacific Diasporas” debuts on May 13.
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.
Leave a Reply