Senior Thesis Film ‘En Lo Que Vino y Vendrá’ Is A Love Letter Across Generations and Borders

In a classroom resembling a movie theater in Sever Hall, students gathered on April 26 to watch Bryant Y. Valenzuela’s ’25 senior thesis short film “En Lo Que Vino y Vendrá,” which follows the love story of his parents, switching back and forth between the present day and the year they met.

The event opened with loud chatter and lively greetings as friends of Valenzuela trickled in. These students were primarily seniors who had met during a Harvard welcome event for incoming first-years in El Paso, Texas, according to David I. Gonzalez ’25. They’ve “been friends for all four years ever since then,” Gonzalez said, and they came to support Valenzuela for the presentation of his senior thesis.

After half an hour of mingling and a series of technical difficulties, the film began.

The film masterfully depicts the story of Valenzuela’s parents. Each timeline carries a distinct cinematographic style that defines its themes. The past timeline is shot and edited like a soap opera, playing like a memory as it flies by. This choice sharply contrasts with the present scenes, which are shot more like a documentary without intense color grading or other effects.

Altogether, the film transports the audience from a dreamlike past to a more grounded present. Across both timelines, the love between the two protagonists remains undeniable, maintaining a tone that is both romantic and hopeful. The soundtrack — classic Mexican Bolero music — enhances the film’s nostalgic atmosphere, adding the necessary warmth and vitality to tug on the heartstrings.

Throughout the film, Valenzuela inserts short digital footage of the years between these two time periods, impressively creating a robust love story even though the film is less than 30 minutes long. These clips follow the two protagonists as they become adults and then parents, which Valenzuela shared are actually real videos taken from his childhood.

Valenzuela also subtly weaves political commentary into the film. In the opening scene, a radio broadcast references Trump’s plan to revoke birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. Still, the film isn’t driven by debates over the border or immigration policy. Instead, it quietly traces the contrast between his parents’ lives in Mexico and their experiences in the United States, revealing how their decision to migrate ultimately shaped Valenzuela’s own life.

The energy in the room completely enhanced the screening experience — when Valenzuela appeared on screen as an actor, playful whistles and cheers broke out. But by the film’s end, the mood shifted; the only sound from the audience was quiet sniffling. The emotional weight of Valenzuela’s story was palpable, seeming to leave an impact on everyone present.

After the film, Melina Fonseca ’27, a Crimson Arts editor, shared that she views Valenzuela as one of her mentor figures on campus and said that she particularly loved the film’s closing scene, in which his parents are dancing around a fire in the present day. Despite its simplicity, it made the ending “so impactful.” Fonseca added that Valenzuela integrated politics “tenderly and with a lot of care.” She appreciated how it wasn’t violent but “subtle,” making its message even stronger.

Furthermore, “seeing the geographic, picturesque sunsets of El Paso” as an El Paso native, Gonzalez said, “was really gorgeous.”

Valenzuela hosted a Q&A after the screening, giving audience members a chance to learn more about the process of making the film.

One student asked why he chose to make the film in Spanish.

“Usually, the thesis films are always entirely in English,” he said. “But this was meant for my parents, who don’t speak English.”

He shared that it would not be “authentic to have English text.”

“I didn’t really take the Harvard audience of most English speakers into consideration when deciding it just because to me, it was more important to show it or to be in a language that my parents would understand,” Valenzuela said.

Another student asked how Valenzuela’s parents reacted to the film being the plot of the film and the actors for the present-day timeline.

“My mom hates looking at herself on the screen,” he said. But even then, after he showed them the film, both his parents “called [him] crying.”

“For me, it’s so important that this film gets shown specifically at Harvard because it forces Harvard to reckon with its history that didn't allow for voices like mine to be shown. And now it’s forcing Harvard to honor me with a degree with an honors thesis based on the story of two immigrants.” Valenzuela said.

After the Q&A, his friends gathered in front of the screen to take a photo together and presented him with flowers.

Closing the event, Fonseca noted that there is “a small Latinx community in film” and that Mexican representation in artistic fields is incredibly important and inspiring to see.

“[Valenzuela] knows who his audience is, and he does so very unapologetically, ” Fonseca said. “And I think we need more of that, because a lot of mainstream media doesn’t have a Latin representation.”

—Staff writer Anat Goldstein can be reached at anat.goldstein@thecrimson.com.