‘Selena Y Los Dinos’: Sundance Review

Dir: Isabel Castro. US. 2025. 110mins

At the time of her murder in 1995, aged just 23, Latina singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez had already been dubbed ’The Queen of Tejano Music’, and was on the brink of breaking into the English-speaking market. Now, 30 years later, this warm-hearted, comprehensive documentary explores Selena’s life and enduring impact from the point of view of those who knew her best — her family. (Her father and siblings played alongside Selena in Los Dinos, giving the film an insider’s perspective.)

 Provides a window into the real Selena.

Directed by TV documentarian and cinematographer Isabel Castro, Selena Y Los Dinos follows a steady stream of works about the singer. These include1997 documentary Selena Remembered; biopic Selena, also released in 1997, which launched the career of star Jennifer Lopez; 2020 Netflix two-part drama Selena: The Series; and episodes of music and true crime shows. Selena’s popularity endures and this new film, which premieres in Sundance’s US Documentary competition, will have instant appeal to her fans — not least because it is the first to have the input of Selena’s family, and features never-before-seen archive material.

Bookending her film with TV interviews in which Selena talks about her career ambitions and, poignantly, how she would like to be remembered, Castro takes a standard chronological approach. The film charts the Texas-born Selena’s rise from singing at quinceañeras, to having hits with songs like ‘Como la Flor’ and ’Bidi Bidi Bom Bom’ and filling huge stadiums via the usual beats: rehearsals, early gigs, increasing media interest, record contracts and live shows. While Selena’s raw talent and infectious personality are a huge draw, the film’s real selling point is its access to Selena’s family, open and honest in their recollections.

Selena’s father Abraham speaks candidly about how the formation of the family band in the early 1980s was down to a mix of his own creative ambitions as a member of the original 1960s Los Dinos group, and financial desperation. Selena’s brother Abraham Jr, guitarist, songwriter and producer, and sister Suzette, the band’s initially reluctant drummer, discuss their close relationship with their sister and the collaborative role they saw themselves playing in her success. (Selena is seen to be dedicated to her family, if sensitive to the fact that her move towards the English-speaking market may have meant leaving them behind.)

Selena’s husband and former bandmate Chris Perez reveals another facet of the singer; an impulsive, romantic and stubborn side at odds with the cool, powerful woman who held sway over audiences, record execs and journalists. Various musicians and producers also speak to her talent and determination.

In other moments, the film touches on issues of gender and race, both of which are an intrinsic part of Selena’s story. Interestingly, in the early stages of her fame, Selena could not speak Spanish, despite learning many Spanish-language songs by rote. And while, as a youngster, she was more interested in listening to pop, rock and disco – sounds that would influence both her and her brother – Latino music helped her reconnect with her heritage.

Given the nature of the film, and its participants, Selena Y Los Dinos maintains an unsurprisingly upbeat, celebratory feel, and doesn’t linger on Selena’s murder at the hands of the former president of her fan club in March 1995. Editor Carolina Siraqyan (who also worked on Maite Alberdi’s Oscar-nominated The Mole Agent) knits together hundreds of hours of private and public footage, giving the film a dynamic pace to match its subject’s energy and foregrounding the home videos that provide a window into the ’real’ Selena.