Courtesy of Ryan Rivera ’25
This past summer, Connecticut College Posse Scholar Ryan Rivera ‘25 and alumna Yasmine Tohme ‘24 received the exciting news that their short film “Those Who Don’t” won two major awards: Best Student Film in the Latin/Hispanic category at the IndieFest Film Awards in California and Best Student Film at Indie House in Spain. Rivera and Tohme collaborated to create the film for a class at Conn and based the story on their experiences as students of color at a PWI, predominantly white institution. The film stars Kian Miranda-Rodriguez ’26 as Ignacio, a student who struggles to find belonging in his Mexican heritage and at his PWI. Sierra Mayoral ‘26 portrays Ignacio’s friend Marrissa, who pushes him to embrace his Chicano identity.
Rivera has loved filmmaking since his childhood, when he used iMovie to make movies on an iPad. He immediately became involved with the Film Department at Conn, which has grown significantly over the course of his college career mostly due to the new Stark Center for the Moving Image built in Hillyer Hall. As a double major in Film Studies and Music, Sound, and Technology, Rivera forms connections between the visual and audio components of film. He basically “lives” in Hillyer Hall and appreciates the close-knit nature of Conn’s Film Department.
Rivera and Tohme were both registered to take FLM 310: Ideological Representation in Motion Picture Production in the spring of 2024. They began brainstorming in December 2023, because they had to have a draft of a film ready for the first day of class. Rivera and Tohme had never worked together before, but were both interested in creating a film that reflected issues of identity and cultural belonging. The film’s title alludes to a chapter in Sandra Cisneros’s novel “The House on Mango Street,” which Rivera read in his first-year Spanish class at Conn with Professor Jessica Koehler. Rivera remembered the chapter, “Los que no” or “Those Who Don’t” and thought it would work with the film’s themes of fitting into an uncomfortable environment, just like the Latino immigrants in the novel. He reconnected with Koehler to discuss the connection between the book and his ideas for the film. Hispanic Studies Professor Luís Gonzalez served as the consultant for the film, providing helpful feedback with his expertise in Spanish and Latin American film.
“Writing ‘Those Who Don’t’ came from blending Ryan’s and my experience as students of color in a PWI. It was also a love letter to a book we both cherish,” shared Tohme. “We realized we both shared a level of imposter syndrome and wanted to introduce that feeling into the script. Our actors helped us translate that beautifully.” Rivera spoke about the challenge of casting Latino characters at a PWI. He reached out to Miranda-Rodriguez, who loved the script and could relate to the character of Ignacio. Rivera was also familiar with Mayoral from past film classes and knew she was involved with student improv at Conn, so he thought of her for the role of Marrissa. Tohme brought in her friends from the club soccer team to join the cast as well. Joaquin Morales ’24 served as the perfect cinematographer due to his vast film experience, and Tohme enlisted Malachi Ward ‘24 to help with costumes. Ward consulted with each lead actor in their dorm room to decide which of their clothes would work best for the film.
Rivera pondered on the “no sabo kid” stereotype and the pressure to be able to speak Spanish as someone with Hispanic heritage. Ignacio’s character struggles with this and faces an ultimatum, forcing him to choose between his Mexican heritage and his Americanized identity. After the club soccer boys do not even make an effort to pronounce Ignacio’s name correctly, he realizes he is different. Tohme shared, “I personally relate to Ignacio’s name being mispronounced and dismissed as it’s a regular occurrence for me in the Western world. That scene was our way of showcasing microaggressions students of color face regularly. We were just scratching the surface.”
“Those Who Don’t” took two days to film, with incredibly long 12-14 hour shoots each day. According to Rivera, the filming itself was not too stressful, because he and Tohme put in a lot of planning. Their main shooting locations were Unity House, the College Bookstore, and the Harris Fishbowl, in addition to some dorms. Rivera and Tohme spent a month editing the film, noting that it took 12 hours just to edit the climax scene. It was difficult for them to cut the film down to ten minutes because they had hours of footage. They used a technique called an L cut to shorten the film, allowing the sound from one scene to carry over into the next scene.
Rivera “was really hoping that people in the Hispanic community would resonate with the story” and see that there is no shame in not speaking your heritage language. He felt proud to see that “Those Who Don’t” received the largest audience out of all of the Film Department showcases in Cummings Arts Center, in addition to lots of positive feedback. However, this showcase was only the beginning for “Those Who Don’t.” Rivera and Tohme had to submit the film to at least five festivals for their class. Over the summer, IndieFest contacted Rivera about the first award they received: Best Student Film in the Latin/Hispanic category. This was “very surreal” for Rivera. Tohme added, “Winning the awards over the summer felt incredibly rewarding and motivating. It reassured me about my passion for film and that it’s something I want to continue to pursue.” Next, IndieHouse in Spain reached out to Rivera about the second Best Student Film award, marking their film’s international recognition. Since then, the film has been selected to screen at the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival and the COLIFFE COLiseum International Film FEstival, where it may win even more awards.
Rivera did not expect this much success for a student project and is proud that the film has impacted so many people. Tohme really appreciated the awards as a reminder of her talent in filmmaking: “I was making a documentary over the summer and I went through moments of doubts about my relationship with film. But Ryan had impeccable timing with delivering the news and, each time, it fed my fuel to keep going and tap into my creativity.” After graduating from Conn, she joined a documentary outreach program in Morocco and served as cinematographer for a short documentary. “I’ve been putting my camera to good use since grad. I hope to enter the documentary world as soon as possible and continue to make films that matter to me,” wrote Tohme.
Rivera similarly plans to pursue a career in filmmaking. He interned at the S.I.C. Film School in Yonkers, NY (right across from Lionsgate Studios) over the summer and will begin a full-time job there after he graduates. Rivera hopes to focus more on post-production editing because he enjoys piecing stories together.
“Creating ‘Those Who Don’t’ turned into a safe space for me. I could write about feeling invalidated that you didn’t fit your identity’s stereotypical ‘profile,’” concluded Tohme. She and Rivera used film as a medium to express their struggles with identity, and their hard work paid off as evident by the international recognition of “Those Who Don’t.”
