HBO will debut The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas on Wednesday, May 13, airing from 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT before streaming on HBO Max. The documentary features Kumail Nanjiani among 15 participants whose stories form a portrait of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander life in the United States.
Directed by Eugene Yi and executive produced by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, the film uses original interviews and rich archival materials to build a tapestry of personal vignettes across those communities. Alongside Nanjiani, the lineup includes Sandra Oh, Bowen Yang, Connie Chung, Tammy Duckworth, Amanda Nguyen, DJ Rekha, Haroon Mokhtarzada, Madelyn Yu and Cliff Kapono.
The project is the latest entry in Greenfield-Sanders’ The List series, which has previously included The Black List, The Trans List, The Out List and The Latino List. That history gives the new documentary a familiar format, but the focus here is specific: 15 stories, told in a single night, about communities that are often discussed in broad strokes but rarely assembled this way on screen.
The timing matters because the film arrives as a marquee HBO title with a defined broadcast window and immediate streaming access. For viewers, that means the documentary is not being rolled out gradually or held for a later release; it lands all at once, on May 13, with its full range of voices available the same day.
What the film offers, then, is less a general statement than a gathering. By bringing together 15 participants from different parts of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander life, The A List turns the spotlight on individual experience first and lets the larger picture emerge from there.
