Netflix’s Selena y Los Dinos documentary celebrates the music icon’s story and legacy

Thirty Year after it’s sad Death at 23, selena quintanilla-Perez remains a legend musicHer legacy as the “Queen of Tejano” continues to resonate. Her groundbreaking work broke barriers for women in Latin music genres, establishing a clear lineage for the contemporary success of Regional Mexicana music.

To ensure that its lasting impact is preserved for future generations, a new documentary, Selena and Los Dinos: A Family Legacyready to release Netflix this Monday. Directed by Isabel Castro, the film offers an intimate portrait, produced by Selena’s own siblings, Suzette Quintanilla and Abby Quintanilla III.

Reflecting on the project, Suzette said, “I understand what Selena means to the Latino world after so many years. Who better to tell our story than us?”

The documentary aims to provide an authentic narrative from those closest to the music icon.

making a film

The Quintanilla family, ready to share never-before-seen archival material with the world, reached out to Castro following the release of his 2022 film. Mija, I realized she might be the right person to tell Selena’s story.

“Suzette, we met, we instantly connected,” Castro says. “We’re like big sisters.”

The feeling was mutual. “She was a fan,” says Suzette. “She completely understood the struggle between being Mexican American and embracing both cultures.”

Then the work began: It took years to comb through and catalog “floor to ceiling, like DVDs, VHS, canisters of raw film, flash drives,” says Castro. There were also duplicates, he said, which required identifying the best quality footage – while “trying to turn a myth into a personal story”.

“We call it ‘the vault,'” Suzette says of her collection. “We have everything you could possibly think of.”

In the footage, Selena’s sister, daughter and personality emerge — and not just the superstar face of her family’s band, Los Dinos. The moments that meant the most to Castro were the most intimate: Suzette holding a webcam and filming her sister, a handwritten letter Selena gave to her husband Chris Pérez and scenes inside their first tour bus, the infamous Big Bertha.

Selena’s mother, Marcela Quintanilla, has not given an interview about her late daughter since her death — and even before, she’s mostly stayed behind the scenes. For the documentary, he shared photo albums and reflected publicly for the first time.

“I love my mom in the documentary,” Suzette says, smiling.

“Selena became representative of some very important things to me, like, what it means to be Latina in this country,” Castro says. “Watching the home video reminded me that she was a young girl who died at 23.”

cultural symbol

For those who grew up with Selena’s music as a cultural touchstone, it may seem like her story is well-crafted: There’s the now-classic 1997 biopic “Selena,” which helped launch its lead’s career. Jennifer Lopezone 2020 Netflix series and much more. Selena and the Dinos Nods to that legacy, but appeals to both loyal fans and viewers who may only know his name.

Castro says, “The most challenging part of the editing process was trying to make this film for our audience – which is huge and extremely dedicated and extremely knowledgeable – and also for new audiences and new generations around the world.”

For those who are not well-versed with her music, Selena’s public-facing story often focuses on the details surrounding her death. (Selena was murdered by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club, in 1995. Saldívar is serving a life sentence. texaswas denied parole in March.) “Selena and the Dinos” spends no time coming to terms with the end of her extraordinary life.

“We don’t focus on the murder,” says Castro, who says her film is about the joy and power of a Latina. “I’m fed up with the expectation that Latino stories so often center around victimhood.”

“It’s about his life, our lives and our growth and telling our story Selena and the Dinos“The person who took her life and everything associated with her death is off the table,” says Suzette. It’s about what we’ve built.”

getting personal to tell a bigger story

Selena and dinos It’s also a point to emphasize less-discussed aspects of Selena’s story: her learned bilingualism and bicultural identity, her fight to reach the top of the music industry as a Latina, and her marriage to Los Dinos guitarist Pérez. He also appears in the document; Their eloping was controversial in the Quintanilla family because Selena was only 20 years old at the time. (“I’m glad he experienced love,” his sister says. “I realize now that I’m older, and he’s not there anymore. … I realize life is short and we only have one life. So, you have to live it.”)

This is accomplished through extensive interviews with the Quintanilla family and members of Los Dinos alone – with no critics or historians coming forward to provide additional context.

Castro said, “A big goal of mine was to really try to take this icon and make the film as personal as possible. And I thought if it was told from the perspective of her family and the people who knew her best, it would allow the audience to have that kind of experience.”

Suzette’s hope is that Latino audiences will be well represented in the film.

His dream is that it will “continue her legacy, our legacy” as well as further the understanding of Selena “and what she represents to us”. latino And for the younger generation. “Hopefully it will also inspire that if you have a dream, go after it.”