The primary time I entered a vault holding the Quintanilla household’s archive, I simply stood there, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what had been preserved. Up till that time, I wasn’t positive tips on how to method a narrative as recognized and beloved as that of Selena Quintanilla. However in that vault, I noticed my documentary movie, “Selena y Los Dinos,” can be greatest advised by the intimacy the household had been recording all alongside — hours of footage of them on the highway, household meals, backstage footage of them preparing, Selena working towards for her performances.
Over the course of a number of years, I labored intently with the Quintanillas to reassemble a household historical past that’s as a lot about music as it’s a couple of household’s love and loss. The method was meticulous and emotional — unearthing forgotten tapes, restoring brittle footage and returning, time and again, to the query of authorship. How do you inform a narrative that the world thinks it already is aware of? How do you protect its reality in opposition to many years of mythmaking?
Throughout that course of, I took Polaroids in moments of calm whereas reviewing the Quintanillas’ archive and conducting their interviews. It’s one thing that I do in most of my productions — a method for me to recollect how these moments felt — a tangible reminder of a time and place.
This dialog with Suzette Quintanilla— Selena’s older sister, the band’s drummer and now the CEO of Q-Productions — emerged from our shared means of excavation. We spoke in regards to the choice to open the household’s personal archive and the load of legacy. What follows is not only a dialog in regards to the movie, however in regards to the methods we maintain somebody alive by picture and sound.
From left to proper: A portray of Selena on the museum; Suzette Quintanilla at her dad and mom’ residence.
Isabel Castro: Let’s begin at the start. You’re the writer of numerous these movies, you have been behind the digital camera. What was it like so that you can share that archive with new individuals?
Suzette Quintanilla: Nervous. It did really feel odd as a result of I had by no means shared it. It’s bizarre as a result of I additionally felt like I used to be able to do it.
I’m gonna return [in time]. I purchased Selena a make-up case. It was massive and chunky — as a result of she would all the time overlook her make-up at any time when we have been flying on the airplane or no matter. So I had given her that, and my mother ended up giving it again to me after Sister handed away. That was my go-to after she died. Each week, I saved it upstairs in our home, in my workplace. I’d simply go to it and cry my ass off, like uncontrollably.
She used to put on Boucheron on the time when she handed and she or he had a bottle in there. Each time I’d open [the case], it smelled like her. I didn’t wish to share that with anyone. [It] was my time along with her. It’s onerous to elucidate.
And lots of people would ask about it, as a result of they knew that she all the time carried it. Followers would ask about it. I put it within the [Selena] museum about 5 years in the past, proper after we reopened from COVID. I assumed, “OK, I’m able to half with it now.”
Similar factor with the movie. The archival has all the time been there. I do know it’s been there. Not that I thought of it rather a lot, I simply knew it was there, and I felt snug that it was there. I by no means actually thought, “Oh I’m gonna gatekeep this as a result of someday I’m going to make a documentary.” It by no means crossed my thoughts to try this early on. That thought course of took place possibly 4 or 5 years in the past. However I’m not gonna lie, I used to be very nervous having you guys within the vault.
IC: I simply need individuals to grasp that there are actually floor-to-ceiling bookcases the place there are a whole lot of VHS tapes and a whole lot of Betacams. When Daniel, the producer, and I have been led into the vault with Suzette, I virtually had a coronary heart assault. That was actually the second the place I used to be like, “I wish to do that so badly.”
SQ: Was that like being a child in a sweet retailer?
IC: Oh, my God. One hundred percent. However my reminiscence of it’s like opening a door and it’s simply gentle emanating. To be completely frank, up till that time, I used to be considering, “How are we gonna inform this story otherwise? Like how am I gonna have the ability to pull that off?”
SQ: Actually?
IC: Yeah, I used to be scared. After which I noticed this archive, and I stated, overlook about it. Simply exhibiting these things instantly goes to make it completely different.
SQ: You felt overwhelmed, I’m positive.
IC: Precisely. I felt overwhelmed as a result of up till that time I didn’t know if I used to be going to tug this off. I had pre-project jitters. It’s simply a lot accountability. It’s like trying up at an enormous mountain and being like, “Am I gonna have the ability to climb this? And am I going to have the ability to climb this in a method that makes all people else proud?” You understand, I didn’t wish to telephone it in.
SQ: OK, it’s humorous that you simply say that. After I hung up with you, I knew it wasn’t going to be like that as quickly as I met you. I knew immediately. I used to be like, “Alright, she’s undoubtedly the one which has coronary heart in it. And I felt one thing. I cried.”
IC: Is there something particularly that precipitated you being prepared? That actually made you suppose: Let’s do it now?
Selena’s outfit within the music video for “Amor Prohibido” (left); the pink button-up shirt belonged to her husband, Chris Pérez. Selena’s outfit from the “Amor Prohibido” album cowl (proper).
SQ: Making this documentary has been at the back of my thoughts for a really very long time. I do know the significance of it and I’ve seen the expansion and the relevance of what we imply. Not simply Selena, however our household. After which truthfully, Isabel, I imply, this is without doubt one of the explanation why I wanna depart [behind] this documentary as a result of I feel that all through the years individuals have this impression that we’re using on her coattails.
IC: Yeah. That’s an enormous false impression.
SQ: It’s the furthest factor from the reality. I wish to make it possible for I convey that to the forefront once more, that this was a household effort. Was Selena the star? Hell yeah. I attempt to clarify it this fashion: If I used to be now not right here, would Selena y Los Dinos nonetheless proceed? Sure, after all. The explanation we’re not capable of proceed anymore, and we selected to not, is as a result of she’s irreplaceable. You may’t exchange any person like Selena. She’s a beacon, so to talk, particularly for us Latina ladies. If I used to be to have a greenback for each time any person got here as much as me and advised me “I grew up listening to her and I felt so related to her as a result of she was me. I used to be her” — I understood that.
Additionally, issues have been modified on social media. I see photos of her with Michael Jackson. They’re like, “Oh my gosh, she met Michael Jackson?” No, she didn’t. All through the years, I seen that tales can be modified. I felt that it was necessary to take this capsule of who we have been and what we created and produce it to 2025. If audiences are going to seek for something, I hope that they seek for this documentary as a result of it’s advised by the individuals who created Selena y Los Dinos. It’s her husband, it’s me, it’s Abe [my brother], it’s my dad and mom, my mother, my dad — our supervisor. I imply it’s [our bandmates] Ricky [Vela] and Pete [Astudillo], they co-wrote with Abe the vast majority of our hit songs which are nonetheless being carried out. So these are the completely different explanation why I felt that this was the time to do it.
IC: Your reply simply now clarified numerous issues for me. It’s that you simply guys wish to have authorship over your story and with AI and issues like that, it’s turning into more and more troublesome to have the ability to actually declare your story.
From left to proper: Selena’s iconic mirror outfit; Selena’s purple jumpsuit from her 1995 efficiency on the Houston Astrodome.
SQ: The film was based mostly off of Selena’s life, our life. And Jennifer [Lopez], I like Jennifer. She did a fantastic job [in the 1997 movie]. However Hollywood glitter is sprinkled onto it. And it’s extra targeted on her life, her brief lifetime of 23 years. How impactful it was and what she created and the way onerous we labored. That film continues to be related to at the present time and I imagine that will probably be for a really very long time. It’s a basic. The Netflix Selena collection — Hollywood glitter. However this documentary, it’s utterly completely different from these two. This doesn’t have Hollywood glitter on it.
IC: Each time I see posts about, “Why one other factor about Selena?” I get so pissed off due to how insidious the racism is in opposition to Latinos. The variety of occasions the place I’ve made one thing or I’ve seen one thing get made after which it simply will get form of pushed apart, put into a distinct field.
SQ: Oh, welcome to my world! That occurred all through our complete profession. It’s irritating, however my dad used to say, whether or not they’re speaking good or unhealthy about you, they’re talkin’ about you. That also resonates. I can by no means change the angle of how individuals view our household. There’s a motive why she’s related. There’s a motive why we’re nonetheless speaking about her. And there’s a motive why this documentary, this unhealthy boy, goes to be on Netflix in 190 international locations, 32-plus languages.
IC: It’s loopy to consider. You talked about how a lot of a beacon Selena is for our tradition. That feels particularly pertinent proper now. What does that imply to you at this second?
SQ: Properly, this present second’s all the time been there. It’s simply been, in my view, placed on the forefront due to our president and since he’s so vocal in opposition to who we’re, as a result of he’s scared — clearly scared. But it surely’s all the time been there, and I feel it should perpetually be there.
The vault at Q Productions housing the entire Quintanilla archive.
IC: With all these things happening in L.A., the temper is scared. Persons are scared, individuals are unhappy. And there are Selena murals all over the place. And to me, your music and Selena symbolize the fantastic thing about our tradition. After I was making this movie, that was one thing that was motivating me the entire time too. I wished this movie to be about pleasure and about energy.
SQ: Oh, it’s. Truthfully, going again to your query, I don’t know what to essentially say to that as a result of I really feel like, we’re nonetheless going to do us, proper? As Latinos, we should always not let the voices of what the world desires us to do. We carry on trucking. I feel the most effective factor is to remain true to who you’re.
IC: Selena simply represents this sense of group, the shared language, and really a really uncommon factor about Selena is that each one Latinos can connect with her. Proper?
SQ: I agree. And that could be a rarity. It was a rarity again then and it’s a rarity nonetheless to at the present time. As a result of keep in mind, Isabel, our style of music — Tejano music — within the realm of Latin music is tiny. Our music is barely performed principally in Texas, Arizona. We took that little bitty speck of music and it’s international now. And the factor is, it wasn’t a factor that grew to become fashionable due to what occurred, as a result of it’s nonetheless right here 30 years later. I do imagine, although, with regard to her passing, that it does now play a small consider her legacy. Lots of people, I don’t suppose, would admit or wish to speak about that. I really feel that that could be a small a part of the curiosity of who she was. I imply, how are you going to not? You will have this younger woman — all people is aware of the story. She’s getting ready to doing what we think about the last word dream, of doing the crossover, after which she’s murdered. Sadly, it should all the time be there. Nonetheless, not that it’s a key issue, as a result of Selena was Selena and she or he was doing what she was doing. Our music was doing what it was doing method earlier than any of this. However we can’t run from the tragedy. The tragedy is a part of the story, sadly.
IC: The tragedy continues to be part of the story. There’s a curiosity about how she died, however I feel there’s one thing else. What do you consider her story, about y’all’s story, makes Latinos really feel so related to you?
SQ: To me, it’s straightforward. The bicultural factor, I feel most individuals can establish with that as a result of we battle. All people struggles with it. Again then no one actually spoke about it. After which I really feel that it’s the household side of it, the truth that we have been all nonetheless collectively. Latinos and familia, proper? I additionally really feel that it was Selena’s realness of who she was as an individual. She didn’t placed on this facade of “I acquired to behave a sure method” and “I can’t present individuals who I actually am.” You are feeling such as you knew her. Then, I feel why the music continues to be related is as a result of our music is completely different. It’s a fusion of the English vibe in there with the cumbia. Brother modernized the band and the blokes modernized a type of cumbia. It’s not dated.
IC: It feels form of timeless. It seems like one thing that we’ve got built-in into our tradition and can in all probability be there for a really, very very long time.
A statue on the entrance of Selena’s dad and mom home. The Quintanilla household loves canines.
The situation of the well-known “washer” dance within the 1997 “Selena” movie by Greg Nava.
Abraham Quintanilla II’s toy automotive assortment, which he collected over his years on the highway.
Suzette Quintanilla at her workplace in Q Productions.
Cinematographers, Lorena Duran and Cassandra Giraldo.
Switching gears a bit of, one thing that lots of people don’t notice is that our complete digital camera crew was Latina. The DP was Lorena Durán. I discovered her work, and it’s so lovely. After which I’ve labored with Cassandra Giraldo for over a decade, and she or he’s an unbelievable cinematographer and photographer. I shot a bit of too. And earlier than I knew it, and it actually wasn’t intentional, the entire digital camera division was Latina. I’ve by no means seen that earlier than. What was that like for you? You’ve had numerous digital camera crews over the course of your profession.
SQ: I’ve by no means seen that in any respect. I keep in mind as a result of I simply noticed all people operating round in my home, shifting stuff round. I didn’t know what anybody there did, I simply knew that they have been a part of the movie crew. However then, once they acquired behind the digital camera, they have been setting it up, I used to be like, wait, y’all are the digital camera individuals? They’re like, yeah! It simply made me really feel like, “that’s badass.” I had by no means skilled that earlier than. I imply, these are steps and limits that you simply simply wish to shout out about.
IC: What was that have? After we filmed the interviews?
SQ: Extraordinarily nervous. I used to be so freaked out. I didn’t sleep truly for days after I discovered the date that you simply have been going to movie me. I knew that I used to be going to share my uncooked emotions, and I didn’t understand how a lot I used to be keen to present to that. I didn’t know what you have been going to ask me. I didn’t understand how deep you have been going to go. I used to be involved for my mother as nicely — she’d by no means performed an interview earlier than. It was about me coping with the truth of the place you have been going to take me. You took it there actually good, by the best way.
IC: I admire that. This is without doubt one of the issues that I battle with essentially the most in my career; there’s typically a contradiction between what’s going to be greatest for a narrative and my very own consolation degree about asking somebody to go there. You guys have been completely on board, however we knew that you simply’re going to need to relive a trauma. That’s only a actually troublesome factor to ask any person to do.
SQ: I imply, I don’t even understand how you probably did that, as a result of as soon as we have been in it, it went away. It’s simply the whole lot that leads as much as that time.
Prime left, clockwise: {A photograph} of Selena at her dad and mom’ residence; Abraham Quintanilla Jr.; Marcella Quintanilla; a plaque from Chris Pérez.
(Isabel Castro)
IC: It was an unbelievable interview. I imply, the interviews that I did with your loved ones are actually going to stick with me for the remainder of my life, since you guys opened as much as me in a method that was so uncommon and so courageous and so stunning. As a result of I do know you guys stated you have been prepared, however there was part of me that thought, how a lot are we going to be taught on this interview? How weak are you going to be? And everybody went there, and that’s simply such a present. It was a present to me, however actually it was a present to the thousands and thousands of individuals which are going to see this. To not freak you out.
SQ: No, I do know. And I do know that if it was heavy for me, I do know it was extraordinarily heavy for everybody. I do know you don’t wish to know this, however my father, he seemed so onerous and the whole lot, however he cried for at the very least a pair days after you guys left. Day-after-day my mother stated he was crying. It simply brings up stuff to the entrance. We attempt to defend that a part of our coronary heart. We are likely to push it down, after which when it’s resurfaced or once we see a video or we see one thing just like the film or no matter, it simply takes you again to a sure time.
IC: I feel individuals don’t notice that it’s in the end numerous bravery and self-sacrifice so as to maintain your sister’s reminiscence alive. You’re employed very onerous to protect her legacy. It’s an act of affection.
SQ: Many, many moons in the past, I assumed, if I die, will Sister be forgotten and our legacy be forgotten? That was a factor in my head, and that was so a few years in the past. I do know. Why fear about that? It’s simply because it mattered to me. And years in the past, I keep in mind I advised [my husband] Invoice, I stated, I can die tomorrow, and I do know that Sister’s legacy will dwell on. I do know now.
IC: And what do you suppose made you notice that?
SQ: Simply the expansion. I see it. I cope with it each day. I see younger ladies coming and little children coming into the museum and so they converse of her as if she simply died.
[Crying]
IC: I’m sorry.
SQ: I’m crying as a result of if she solely knew — she by no means knew although, Isabel, that’s the factor. She didn’t know. She actually didn’t know. Perhaps that’s what made her particular, that she by no means thought she was as massive as what she actually was. It’s all people that loves her that’s carrying her.
Isabel Castro is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer. Her newest movie, ”Selena y Los Dinos,” received awards at Sundance and SXSW and is out on Netflix.
A plaque from Selena’s dad and mom in her reminiscence.
