NEW YORK (AP) — For many, the name Selena Quintanilla-Perez is mythological. The Queen of Tejano has broken barriers for women in all genres of Latin music; it's easy to see a direct line between her contributions to the current success of regional Mexican music. But it's been 30 years since the singer known simply as Selena was killed at 23, and those who love her are working hard to ensure her legacy lives on for decades to come.
One such example: Selena and Los Dinos: A Family's Legacy, a documentary directed by Isabel Castro and executive produced by Selena's siblings, Suzette Quintanilla and AB Quintanilla III. It hits Netflix on Monday.
“I understand what Selena means many years later to the Latin American world,” says Suzette Quintanilla. “Who can tell our story better than us?”
Making the film
Ready to share never-before-seen archival footage with the world, the Quintanilla family approached Castro following the release of her 2022 film “Micah,” feeling she might be the right person to tell Selena's story.
“Suzette, we met and immediately hit it off,” says Castro. “We're both big sisters.”
The feeling was mutual. “She was a fan,” says Suzette Quintanilla. “She completely understood the struggle between being Mexican-American and embracing both cultures.”
Then the work began: years of combing and cataloging “floor-to-ceiling DVDs, VHS discs, containers of raw film, flash drives,” Castro says. There were also duplicates, which required selecting the best quality footage while “trying to turn the myth into a personal story,” she said.
“We call it a vault,” Suzette Quintanilla says of their collection. “We have everything you could think of.”
Selena appeared in the footage, sister, daughter and person, and not just the face of the superstar of the family group Los Dinos. The moments that meant the most to Castro were the most intimate: Suzette holding a video camera and filming her sister, the handwritten letter Selena gave to her husband Chris Perez, and scenes from their first tour bus, the infamous “Big Bertha.”
Selena's mother, Marcella Quintanilla, has not given an interview about her late daughter since her death—and even before that, she remained largely behind the scenes. In the documentary, she opened up, sharing photo albums and reflecting publicly for the first time.
“I love my mom in the documentary,” beams Suzette Quintanilla.
Selena “has come to represent something so important to me, like what it means to be Latina in this country,” says Castro. “Watching the home video reminded me that she was just a young girl who died when she was 23.”
Selena, cultural icon
For those who grew up with Selena's music as a cultural touchstone, her story may seem well-studied: There's the now-classic 1997 biopic Selena, which helped launch the career of its lead character Jennifer Lopez, the 2020 Netflix series, and more. “Selena Y Los Dinos” nods to that legacy, but speaks to both the dedicated fan and the viewer who may only know her name.
“The most challenging part of the editing process was trying to find the connection between making this film for her built-in audience—huge, extremely dedicated and extremely knowledgeable—and new audiences around the world, as well as new generations,” says Castro.
For those not well versed in her music, Selena's public history often focuses on the details of her death. (Selena was murdered by her fan club president Yolanda Saldivar in 1995. Saldivar, who was serving a life sentence in Texas, was denied parole in March.) Selena and Los Dinos doesn't spend much time at all on the end of her extraordinary life.
“We don't focus on the killing,” says Castro, who says her film is about the joy and strength of Latinos. “I’m tired of expecting Latino stories to often focus on victims.”
“It’s about her life, our life and our growth, and our story in Selena Y Los Dinos,” says Suzette Quintanilla. “The person who took her life and everything related to her death is off the table. This is what we created.”
Getting personal to tell the big story
“Selena Y Los Dinos” also highlights little-known aspects of Selena's story: her educated bilingualism and bicultural identity, her struggle to reach the top of the music industry as a Latina, and her marriage to Perez, guitarist for Los Dinos. He also appears in the document; their escape caused controversy within the Quintanilla family, as Selena was only 20 years old at the time. (“I'm glad she experienced love,” her sister says. “Now I understand that I'm older, and now that she's not… I understand that life is short, and we only have one life. So, you have to live it.”) This is achieved through extensive interviews with only the Quintanilla family and members of Los Dinos—there are no critics or historians trying to provide additional context.
“My huge goal was to try to really use that symbol and make the film as personal as possible. And I felt that if it was told from the perspective of her family and those who knew her best, it would allow the audience to have that same experience,” Castro said.
Suzette Quintanilla hopes Latino audiences will find good representation in the film.
Her dream is for it to “continue her legacy, our legacy” and also promote understanding of Selena “and what she represents for us Latinos and for the younger generation. We also hope it inspires you that if you have a dream, go for it.”
