That includes dwelling films shot by Suzette Quintanilla, the brand new documentary ‘Selena y Los Dinos’ made waves at Sundance and SXSW.
It was a full home on the Library Middle Theatre in Park Metropolis, Utah, the place lots of of Sundance Movie Pageant-goers trudged by way of the snow and filed into their seats to look at “Selena y Los Dinos,” a documentary movie chronicling the lifetime of Tejano pop legend Selena Quintanilla.
Named after the unique Quintanilla household band, the 2025 documentary premiered on the fest on Jan. 26 — and was later proven on the SXSW competition in March. Directed by Emmy-nominated Mexican American director Isabel Castro, “Los Dinos” is the newest venture in an extended string of films and TV reveals honoring the celebrity, who was tragically murdered by a fan in 1995. Previous standouts embrace the 1997 biopic “Selena,” which helped launch a younger actor named Jennifer Lopez; then there was “Selena: The Series,” which premiere on Netflix in 2020.
By the point the second season of the Netflix sequence aired in 2021, many followers — myself included — grew fatigued with the identical story, transparently steered by household patriarch Abraham Quintanilla and belabored to the purpose of redundancy.
But the demand for “Los Dinos” clearly went far past these attending the fest. The doc was faraway from Sundance’s digital screening portal after zealous Selena followers leaked the footage on TikTok. “Los Dinos” nonetheless went on to win a particular jury prize for archival storytelling at Sundance. Final month, Deadline reported that Netflix was hammering out a $6- to $7-million deal to amass the movie.
Suzette Quintanilla, left, Isabel Castro and Chris Pérez at Sundance Movie Pageant in January.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Instances)
Composed of authentic VHS footage taken by Selena’s older sister, Suzette, interspersed with present-day interviews with household and pals, “Los Dinos” is an ode to her pop-star sister, in addition to the unparalleled intimacy of sisterhood itself.
Because the band’s drummer, Suzette typically stored a decrease profile than Selena; however behind her drum equipment, and her camcorder, she captured her sister’s fireplace and verve extra authentically than anybody else had earlier than. They weren’t solely siblings or bandmates; they have been ladies collectively, making faces at one another and goofing off in lodge rooms between gigs. They have been additionally two younger ladies breaking new floor in Tejano music, and finally, the music business at massive.
“I’m very proud of Selena and what she represents as a woman,” mentioned Suzette on the Sundance premiere in January. “And, more than ever right now, [as] a Mexican American.”
Throughout a Q&A with the viewers, Suzette defined that she had stored dwelling films of Los Dinos within the vault for many years. It was after working as an government producer on the Netflix sequence when she consulted her lawyer about making her personal documentary — and one with a much more private contact.
“There’s some things that you just want to hold on to and not share with everyone,” she mentioned. “I was always taking the pictures, always with the camera. And look how crazy it is, that I’m sharing it with all of you so many years later.”
After assembly with Suzette over Zoom, Castro was given the reins to direct “Los Dinos.” She made her personal Sundance debut in 2022, when she premiered a function titled “Mija:” a heartfelt documentary that adopted two daughters of undocumented immigrants as they tried to launch music careers within the States. (Regardless of the movie being acquired by Disney, it was inexplicably by no means launched.)
“I [wanted] to tell a story about how difficult it is to be a Latina musician in this industry,” she informed the viewers at Sundance.
Castro’s mission as a director dovetailed seamlessly with the realities of Selena and Suzette, who have been minors once they grew to become touring musicians. The documentary surfaces footage from performances through which Selena, at instances, comes off as extra of a riot grrrl than the nice Texan lady her mother and father raised her to be. When she carried out her scorching kiss-off quantity, “¿Qué Creías?” she’d invite an ogling male fan onstage, simply to verbally costume him down along with her verses.
Director Isabel Castro, Suzette Quintanilla, Chris Pérez, Pete Astudillo and Ricky Vela attend the premiere of the “Selena y Los Dinos” documentary on the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, at South by Southwest.
(Cat Cardenas / For De Los)
Selena’s performances felt like cathartic responses to the machismo she confronted as a younger girl, which, because it additionally turned out, was coming from inside the home. The pop star’s father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., has been the first gatekeeper of his daughter’s picture and inventive output since she was alive — and within the documentary, out of an old-school paternalism, he appeared to gatekeep her potential from herself.
Past Abraham’s legendary resistance to Selena’s bedazzled costume bustier, a scene depicted humorously by Edward James Olmos within the 1997 movie, he expressed dismay at her makes an attempt to ascertain autonomy from the household — whether or not by establishing her personal trend line, Selena And so on., or secretly marrying guitarist Chris Pérez in 1992. (“Chris is a good guy,” conceded Abraham in one of many dwelling films.)
A daring Aries girl like Selena appeared to confound Abraham, together with his work ethic and headstrong persona. But regardless of their energy struggles, collectively the daddy and daughter propelled the band to success. “Dad was out in the streets when he was young, and he didn’t want that for us,” recalled Selena’s older brother, Grammy-winning producer and bassist A.B. Quintanilla, within the doc. “The Jacksons were out there, so my dad thought, ‘Let’s start the Mexican Jacksons.’”
The documentary additionally captures, in actual time, the evolution of a daring new id rising amongst Latino youth within the Eighties, encapsulated in Los Dinos’ cultural hybridity. The turning level is represented in footage from a 1987 present hosted by Johnny Canales in Matamoros, Mexico — through which Selena, wearing silver sequins, opted to carry out a canopy of Jody Watley’s freestyle hit, “Looking for a New Love.” It didn’t land with the gang, who met the anglophone dance grooves with clean stares. Some might even say it flopped.
“It’s not that we were ashamed of [being Mexican] … it was just that we grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas, which was predominantly Anglo people,” defined Suzette. “We weren’t introduced to Tejano music until later on … we didn’t speak fluent Spanish … If we weren’t good enough, it was like, ‘Oh, you’re coconuts.’”
As a first-generation Latina myself, I felt seen within the cultural hole exemplified by Los Dinos, who grew more and more pissed off with the music their dad taught them to carry out. Their information of Mexican tradition was then restricted to the scope of their mother and father, who have been a part of the Silent Technology. However the band’s blended, “ni de aquí, ni de allá” existence grew to become extra of an asset with the addition of Pete Astudillo: a hip and totally bilingual singer-songwriter, who helped Los Dinos meet up with Gen X Mexican tradition.
The Quintanillas would finally draw back from their father’s nostalgic brown-eyed soul and into extra modern musical terrain, pumping the band’s R&B coronary heart with the heart beat of tecnocumbia in songs like “Como la Flor” and “Amor Prohibido.” Their fusion grew to become the mannequin for numerous Latina musicians, from indie artists like Estevie to pop powerhouses resembling Becky G — and provided an exciting new imaginative and prescient of Latinidad for these born and raised in the US.
“The fans out in Mexico could pick up on that energy, which was a great thing,” mentioned Selena’s former husband and Los Dinos guitarist Chris Pérez, who additionally attended the Sundance premiere. “It was not just the musical side of things, but [Selena’s] progression in the language, in the interviews she was doing. How can you not be inspired [by her] as a musician? As a person? Being that we were so close, I think that was a big part of why we evolved into what we did.”
If we have been going to get one more serving to of Selena nostalgia, it was rather more refreshing when served from the angle of the lady who knew her finest. Seen by way of her sister’s eyes, Selena was not only a pop icon however a spark of a lady who modified the lives of her members of the family for the higher — and continues to rock our worlds in 2025.
“I want to leave a nugget of love for the future generation coming up, that’s embracing Selena and our music,” added Suzette. “We are 30 years without Selena, but her legacy is stronger than ever.”
