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\n First, there was the 1997 Gregory Nava biopic starring Jennifer Lopez. Then, there was the scripted Netflix series<\/a> that came out in 2020. Now, the late Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla Perez<\/a>, is having her story told directly by her family and bandmates.\n <\/p>\n \n In many ways, we have her sister Suzette Quintanilla to thank for \u201cSelena y Los Dinos,\u201d the Netflix documentary debuting Monday.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI was the annoying one with the camera, like, back in the day,\u201d Quintanilla told celebrity.land in a recent interview. \u201cI have so much footage of all the guys giving me that look like, \u2018Ugh, not again.\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In the \u201880s and \u201890s, Quintanilla, now the CEO of her family\u2019s entertainment company Q Productions, was the drummer in her family\u2019s up-and-coming band, which serves as the inspiration for the documentary\u2019s title. She had a camera and a desire to document her family and bandmates\u2019 silly moments on the road.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201c(I) wasn\u2019t even thinking about creating (or) capturing these moments for what\u2019s being showcased. It was just about documenting our life,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n \n Those smile-stealing, off-the-cuff camcorder moments make what could have been a stale documentary into a much more personal portrait of the singer, who was killed in 1995<\/a>. \u201cSelena y Los Dinos\u201d \u2013 inspired by the name of the band her father was in when he was a young musician \u2013 is packed with intimate glimpses of treasures from the family\u2019s personal trove of video, photos and other never-before-seen footage.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere\u2019s a part in the documentary where I\u2019m reading a letter that she wrote to me,\u201d the late singer\u2019s bandmate and eventual husband Chris Perez told celebrity.land. \u201cI was just happy to be a part of it and have the crew come over here and talk to me in that kind of respect.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Between home videos, deep-cut interviews, love letters \u2013 and even looks at Quintanilla Perez\u2019s handwritten study notes from when she was learning Spanish to better connect with her Mexican audience \u2013 the documentary reminds viewers of the person behind the star\u2019s story, which ended too soon.\n <\/p>\n \n The documentary details the Texas-born singer\u2019s triumphs and struggles in equal measure \u2013 like how she broke through sexism, racism and poverty in the male-dominated Tejano music scene in the late 1980s to become one of the first American musicians of Latino descent to cross over from the Spanish to English market. Her fifth studio album \u2013 featuring her two widely known English hits, \u201cDreaming of You\u201d and \u201cI Could Fall in Love\u201d \u2013 was released after her death.\n <\/p>\n \n In 1995, at the age of 23 and already a Grammy winner, Quintanilla Perez was shot and killed by her fan club president Yolanda Sald\u00edvar, who was denied parole<\/a> earlier this year. Still, in her short life, she refracted light, relatability and charisma that continues to capture millions today.\n <\/p>\n \n To put it all into context, before there was Bad Bunny<\/a>-mania, there was Ricky Martin\u2019s Latin Explosion. And before that, there was Selena Quintanilla Perez.\n <\/p>\n \n While all the fame, glory and tragedy is implicit in Selena\u2019s story, the director of the new documentary was going for something more.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201c(The documentary is) not the \u2018Hollywoodification\u2019 of their story, it\u2019s them telling their stories to you directly,\u201d director Isabel Castro told celebrity.land\u2019s host of \u201cFirst of All,\u201d Victor Blackwell. \u201c\u200aIt was really important to us that we make something that felt different from things that have been made in the past.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Some of those differences include a more complete picture of Quintanilla Perez as an empowered and empowering female artist in the early \u201990s. In one archival snippet, an older, male host asks the young singer \u2013 wearing a scarlet red bustier and matching leggings \u2013 to do \u201ca turn\u201d for the audience. After doing a quick, elegant twirl, she requests the same of him, even encouraging the audience to egg him on. He does not spin, but her point was made.\n <\/p>\n \n There are also candid moments from her childhood, including interviews in which she speaks honestly about the pressure on her and her siblings to financially deliver for the family.\n <\/p>\n \n Directed by Castro and executive produced by siblings Suzette and AB Quintanilla III, the project captures Quintanilla Perez and her band\u2019s rise and her ultimate triumph: a global legacy beyond her lifespan.\n <\/p>\n \n Quintanilla Perez is not at risk of being forgotten any time soon, of course. Her name seemingly still carries the crowd-gathering power it did at the height of her popularity.\n <\/p>\n \n When MAC Cosmetics launched a makeup collection inspired by the star, it sold out within a day<\/a>. The ceremony revealing her pink star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame attracted a record-breaking attendance<\/a>. And when Texas grocery store chain H-E-B released a limited quantity of special-edition reusable bags lines honoring the singer, the website crashed and stores were sold out<\/a> for weeks.\n <\/p>\n \n For Quintanilla, though, honoring her sister in the documentary was about highlighting the human more than the hype.\n <\/p>\n