In 'Selena y Los Dinos,' we see the Tejano queen through the eyes of her sister

It was a afloat location astatine the Library Center Theatre successful Park City, Utah, wherever hundreds of Sundance Film Festival-goers trudged done the snowfall and filed into their seats to ticker “Selena y Los Dinos,” a documentary movie chronicling the beingness of Tejano popular fable Selena Quintanilla.

Named aft the archetypal Quintanilla household band, the 2025 documentary premiered astatine the fest connected Jan. 26 — and was aboriginal shown astatine the SXSW festival successful March. Directed by Emmy-nominated Mexican American manager Isabel Castro, “Los Dinos” is the latest task successful a agelong drawstring of movies and TV shows honoring the superstar, who was tragically murdered by a instrumentality successful 1995. Past standouts see the 1997 biopic “Selena,” which helped motorboat a young histrion named Jennifer Lopez; past determination was “Selena: The Series,” which premiere connected Netflix successful 2020.

By the clip the 2nd play of the Netflix bid aired successful 2021, galore fans — myself included — grew fatigued with the aforesaid story, transparently steered by household patriarch Abraham Quintanilla and belabored to the constituent of redundancy.

Yet the request for “Los Dinos” intelligibly went acold beyond those attending the fest. The doc was removed from Sundance’s virtual screening portal aft zealous Selena fans leaked the footage connected TikTok. “Los Dinos” inactive went connected to triumph a peculiar assemblage prize for archival storytelling astatine Sundance. Last month, Deadline reported that Netflix was hammering retired a $6- to $7-million woody to get the film.

Suzette Quintanilla, left, Isabel Castro and Chris Pérez astatine Sundance Film Festival successful January.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Composed of archetypal VHS footage taken by Selena’s older sister, Suzette, interspersed with present-day interviews with household and friends, “Los Dinos” is an ode to her pop-star sister, arsenic good arsenic the unparalleled intimacy of sisterhood itself.

As the band’s drummer, Suzette mostly kept a little illustration than Selena; but down her drum kit, and her camcorder, she captured her sister’s occurrence and verve much authentically than anyone other had before. They were not lone siblings oregon bandmates; they were girls together, making faces astatine each different and goofing disconnected successful edifice rooms betwixt gigs. They were besides 2 young women breaking caller crushed successful Tejano music, and eventually, the euphony manufacture astatine large.

“I’m precise arrogant of Selena and what she represents arsenic a woman,” said Suzette astatine the Sundance premiere successful January. “And, much than ever close now, [as] a Mexican American.”

During a Q&A with the audience, Suzette explained that she had kept location movies of Los Dinos successful the vault for decades. It was aft moving arsenic an enforcement shaper connected the Netflix bid erstwhile she consulted her lawyer astir making her ain documentary — and 1 with a acold much idiosyncratic touch.

“There’s immoderate things that you conscionable privation to clasp connected to and not stock with everyone,” she said. “I was ever taking the pictures, ever with the camera. And look however brainsick it is, that I’m sharing it with each of you truthful galore years later.”

After gathering with Suzette implicit Zoom, Castro was fixed the reins to nonstop “Los Dinos.” She made her ain Sundance debut successful 2022, erstwhile she premiered a diagnostic titled “Mija:” a heartfelt documentary that followed 2 daughters of undocumented immigrants arsenic they tried to motorboat euphony careers successful the States. (Despite the movie being acquired by Disney, it was inexplicably ne'er released.)

“I [wanted] to archer a communicative astir however hard it is to beryllium a Latina instrumentalist successful this industry,” she told the assemblage astatine Sundance.

Castro’s ngo arsenic a manager dovetailed seamlessly with the realities of Selena and Suzette, who were minors erstwhile they became touring musicians. The documentary surfaces footage from performances successful which Selena, astatine times, comes disconnected arsenic much of a riot grrrl than the bully Texan miss her parents raised her to be. When she performed her scorching kiss-off number, “¿Qué Creías?” she’d invitation an ogling antheral instrumentality onstage, conscionable to verbally formal him down with her verses.

Director Isabel Castro, Suzette Quintanilla, Chris Pérez, Pete Astudillo and Ricky Vela be the premiere of the “Selena y Los Dinos” documentary astatine the Paramount Theatre successful Austin, Texas, astatine South by Southwest.

(Cat Cardenas / For De Los)

Selena’s performances felt similar cathartic responses to the machismo she faced arsenic a young woman, which, arsenic it besides turned out, was coming from wrong the house. The popular star’s father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., has been the superior gatekeeper of his daughter’s representation and originative output since she was live — and successful the documentary, retired of an old-school paternalism, helium appeared to gatekeep her imaginable from herself.

Beyond Abraham’s legendary absorption to Selena’s bedazzled costume bustier, a country depicted humorously by Edward James Olmos successful the 1997 film, helium expressed dismay astatine her attempts to found autonomy from the household — whether by establishing her ain manner line, Selena Etc., oregon secretly marrying guitarist Chris Pérez successful 1992. (“Chris is simply a bully guy,” conceded Abraham successful 1 of the location movies.)

A bold Aries pistillate similar Selena seemed to confound Abraham, with his enactment ethic and headstrong personality. Yet contempt their powerfulness struggles, unneurotic the begetter and girl propelled the set to success. “Dad was retired successful the streets erstwhile helium was young, and helium didn’t privation that for us,” recalled Selena’s older brother, Grammy-winning shaper and bassist A.B. Quintanilla, successful the doc. “The Jacksons were retired there, truthful my dada thought, ‘Let’s commencement the Mexican Jacksons.’”

The documentary besides captures, successful existent time, the improvement of a bold caller individuality increasing among Latino younker successful the 1980s, encapsulated successful Los Dinos’ taste hybridity. The turning constituent is represented successful footage from a 1987 amusement hosted by Johnny Canales successful Matamoros, Mexico — successful which Selena, dressed successful metallic sequins, opted to execute a screen of Jody Watley’s freestyle hit, “Looking for a New Love.” It didn’t onshore with the crowd, who met the anglophone creation grooves with blank stares. Some whitethorn adjacent accidental it flopped.

“It’s not that we were ashamed of [being Mexican] ... it was conscionable that we grew up successful Lake Jackson, Texas, which was predominantly Anglo people,” explained Suzette. “We weren’t introduced to Tejano euphony until aboriginal connected … we didn’t talk fluent Spanish ... If we weren’t bully enough, it was like, ‘Oh, you’re coconuts.’”

As a first-generation Latina myself, I felt seen successful the taste spread exemplified by Los Dinos, who grew progressively frustrated with the euphony their dada taught them to perform. Their cognition of Mexican civilization was past constricted to the scope of their parents, who were portion of the Silent Generation. But the band’s blended, “ni de aquí, ni de allá” beingness became much of an plus with the summation of Pete Astudillo: a hep and afloat bilingual singer-songwriter, who helped Los Dinos drawback up with Gen X Mexican culture.

The Quintanillas would yet propulsion distant from their father’s nostalgic brown-eyed psyche and into much modern philharmonic terrain, pumping the band’s R&B bosom with the pulse of tecnocumbia successful songs similar “Como la Flor” and “Amor Prohibido.” Their fusion became the exemplary for countless Latina musicians, from indie artists similar Estevie to popular powerhouses specified arsenic Becky G — and offered a thrilling caller imaginativeness of Latinidad for those calved and raised successful the United States.

“The fans retired successful Mexico could prime up connected that energy, which was a large thing,” said Selena’s erstwhile hubby and Los Dinos guitarist Chris Pérez, who besides attended the Sundance premiere. “It was not conscionable the philharmonic broadside of things, but [Selena’s] progression successful the language, successful the interviews she was doing. How tin you not beryllium inspired [by her] arsenic a musician? As a person? Being that we were truthful close, I deliberation that was a large portion of wherefore we evolved into what we did.”

If we were going to get yet another helping of Selena nostalgia, it was overmuch much refreshing erstwhile served from the position of the pistillate who knew her best. Seen done her sister’s eyes, Selena was not conscionable a popular icon but a spark of a pistillate who changed the lives of her household members for the amended — and continues to stone our worlds successful 2025.

“I privation to permission a nugget of emotion for the aboriginal procreation coming up, that’s embracing Selena and our music,” added Suzette. “We are 30 years without Selena, but her bequest is stronger than ever.”