‘Selena y Los Dinos’ doc gives rare perspective on Selena (Review)

It was a full house at the Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah, where hundreds of Sundance Film Festival-goers trudged through the snow and filed into their seats to watch “Selena y Los Dinos,” a documentary film chronicling the life of Tejano pop legend Selena Quintanilla.

Named after the original Quintanilla family band, the 2025 documentary premiered at the fest on Jan. 26 — and was later shown at the SXSW festival in March. Directed by Emmy-nominated Mexican American director Isabel Castro, “Los Dinos” is the latest project in a long string of movies and TV shows honoring the superstar, who was tragically murdered by a fan in 1995. Past standouts include the 1997 biopic “Selena,” which helped launch a young actor named Jennifer Lopez; then there was “Selena: The Series,” which premiere on Netflix in 2020.

By the time the second season of the Netflix series aired in 2021, many fans — myself included — grew fatigued with the same story, transparently steered by family patriarch Abraham Quintanilla and belabored to the point of redundancy.

Yet the demand for “Los Dinos” clearly went far beyond those attending the fest. The doc was removed from Sundance’s virtual screening portal after zealous Selena fans leaked the footage on TikTok. “Los Dinos” still went on to win a special jury prize for archival storytelling at Sundance. Last month, Deadline reported that Netflix was hammering out a $6- to $7-million deal to acquire the film.

Suzette Quintanilla, left, Isabel Castro and Chris Pérez at Sundance Film Festival in January.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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

As the band’s drummer, Suzette generally kept a lower profile than Selena; but behind her drum kit, and her camcorder, she captured her sister’s fire and verve more authentically than anyone else had before. They were not only siblings or bandmates; they were girls together, making faces at each other and goofing off in hotel rooms between gigs. They were also two young women breaking new ground in Tejano music, and eventually, the music industry at large.

“I’m very proud of Selena and what she represents as a woman,” said Suzette at the Sundance premiere in January. “And, more than ever right now, [as] a Mexican American.”

During a Q&A with the audience, Suzette explained that she had kept home movies of Los Dinos in the vault for decades. It was after working as an executive producer on the Netflix series when she consulted her lawyer about making her own documentary — and one with a far more personal touch.

“There’s some things that you just want to hold on to and not share with everyone,” she said. “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 meeting with Suzette over Zoom, Castro was given the reins to direct “Los Dinos.” She made her own Sundance debut in 2022, when she premiered a feature titled “Mija:” a heartfelt documentary that followed two daughters of undocumented immigrants as they tried to launch music careers in the States. (Despite the film being acquired by Disney, it was inexplicably never released.)

“I [wanted] to tell a story about how difficult it is to be a Latina musician in this industry,” she told the audience at Sundance.

Castro’s mission as a director dovetailed seamlessly with the realities of Selena and Suzette, who were minors when they became touring musicians. The documentary surfaces footage from performances in which Selena, at times, comes off as more of a riot grrrl than the good Texan girl her parents raised her to be. When she performed her scorching kiss-off number, “¿Qué Creías?” she’d invite an ogling male fan onstage, just to verbally dress him down 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 at 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 faced as a young woman, which, as it also turned out, was coming from inside the house. The pop star’s father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., has been the primary gatekeeper of his daughter’s image and creative output since she was alive — and in the documentary, out of an old-school paternalism, he appeared to gatekeep her potential from herself.

Beyond Abraham’s legendary resistance to Selena’s bedazzled costume bustier, a scene depicted humorously by Edward James Olmos in the 1997 film, he expressed dismay at her attempts to establish autonomy from the family — whether by establishing her own fashion line, Selena Etc., or secretly marrying guitarist Chris Pérez in 1992. (“Chris is a good guy,” conceded Abraham in one of the home movies.)

A bold Aries woman like Selena seemed to confound Abraham, with his work ethic and headstrong personality. Yet despite their power struggles, together the father 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, in the doc. “The Jacksons were out there, so my dad thought, ‘Let’s start the Mexican Jacksons.’”

The documentary also captures, in real time, the evolution of a bold new identity growing among Latino youth in the 1980s, encapsulated in Los Dinos’ cultural hybridity. The turning point is represented in footage from a 1987 show hosted by Johnny Canales in Matamoros, Mexico — in which Selena, dressed in silver sequins, opted to perform a cover of Jody Watley’s freestyle hit, “Looking for a New Love.” It didn’t land with the crowd, who met the anglophone dance grooves with blank stares. Some may 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,” explained 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 in the cultural gap exemplified by Los Dinos, who grew increasingly frustrated with the music their dad taught them to perform. Their knowledge of Mexican culture was then limited to the scope of their parents, who were part of the Silent Generation. But the band’s blended, “ni de aquí, ni de allá” existence became more of an asset with the addition of Pete Astudillo: a hip and fully bilingual singer-songwriter, who helped Los Dinos catch up with Gen X Mexican culture.

The Quintanillas would eventually pull away from their father’s nostalgic brown-eyed soul and into more contemporary musical terrain, pumping the band’s R&B heart with the pulse of tecnocumbia in songs like “Como la Flor” and “Amor Prohibido.” Their fusion became the model for countless Latina musicians, from indie artists like Estevie to pop powerhouses such as Becky G — and offered a thrilling new vision of Latinidad for those born and raised in the United States.

“The fans out in Mexico could pick up on that energy, which was a great thing,” said Selena’s former husband and Los Dinos guitarist Chris Pérez, who also 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 were going to get yet another helping of Selena nostalgia, it was much more refreshing when served from the perspective of the woman who knew her best. Seen through her sister’s eyes, Selena was not just a pop icon but a spark of a woman who changed the lives of her family members for the better — 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.”