This short is part of a moving series of five ThankList mini-documentaries for American Greetings in which people express heartfelt gratitude to those who had a profoundly positive impact on their lives. All the shorts were directed by two time Oscar-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple (for the feature documentaries Harlan County U.S.A., and American Dream) via production house Nonfiction Unlimited for agency Mullen in Boston.

Cholene’s ThankList–cut by Marco Perez of Union Editorial–introduces us to Air Force medical doctor Cholene who singles out Keer, a young man who, along with his mother, was taken as a slave in his native South Sudan. Once he was blinded by his slavemaster, he was no longer deemed useful for work and was allowed to escape. Having lost his mother, he was alone in the world until Cholene’s partner, Ellen, brought Keer to the U.S. for corrective surgeries that eventually helped him regain some of his sight. Cholene explains that the hope, joy and resilience of this young man has taught her the real meaning of courage.

Perez cut three of the American Greetings documentary shorts with Union Editorial’s Sloane Klevin editing two others as well as the trailer for the campaign.

Credits

Client American Greetings Agency Mullen, Boston Tim Vaccarino, Dave Weist, executive creative directors; Jon Ruby, creative director; Andrea Mileskiewicz, Blake Winfree, associate creative directors; Zeke Bowman, director of broadcast production; Vera Everson, producer. Production Nonfiction Unlimited Barbara Kopple, director; Michael Degan, Loretta Jeneski, exec producers; Patrick Degan, head of production; Michael Manacop, producer. Editorial Union Editorial Marco Perez, Sloane Klevin, editors; Adriana Machado, assistant editor; Caryn Maclean, exec producer; Susan Motamed, sr. producer.

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