It’s been 30 years since her murder shook the world, but Selena’s legacy remains more alive than ever. Her heart beats again starting this Monday in a new documentary that explores the most personal life of the queen of Tejano Mexican (Tex-Mex) music.
Selena “helped me understand my identity better. It helped me feel proud of my identity and understand that it’s okay to be myself,” says Isabel Castro, director of the project, which is now available on Netflix, in an interview with EFE.
Through remnants kept by the Quintanilla family, Castro reconstructs the rise to fame of the “Queen of Tex-Mex”, a cultural icon who broke the barriers of Tejano music and opened the way for Latin artists in the U.S. until her murder on March 31, 1995, at the age of 23, by Yolanda Salazar, a member of her fan club, who shot her to death in a motel in Corpus Christi (Texas).
Putting together the narrative for this project “was quite a challenge, because it had a meteoric rise. The priority was the behind-the-scenes footage, most of it shot by Suzette Quintanilla (the singer’s sister), because I feel it offered a perspective of Selena that made her feel deeply personal,” explains the director.
The priority for this project “was for people to experience that growth, how Selena went from being a charismatic and naturally talented young woman to becoming a worldwide phenomenon,” he adds.
Selena: A Latin icon who crossed borders
Beyond the impact that an artist with Mexican roots had on the U.S. Latino community, the beauty of her legacy “represents so many different aspects. It’s about Selena’s charisma as a person, how she was able to connect with you as an artist. She’s like us,” the artist’s sister told EFE.
Selena’s very natural personality of not being ashamed of her roots “is one of the reasons she continues to connect with the younger generation, because they are proud of who they are,” adds Suzette.
“She’s never been ashamed of it. She was very open about saying, ‘Hey, my Spanish I don’t speak very well, but I’m proud of who I am and where I’m from’ (…) And I feel like Selena made it OK to not speak perfect Spanish and not be judged in a certain way,” she says.
This very natural aspect of Selena was the thread of union that struck a chord with Castro: “She allowed me to understand that it’s okay not to be from here or there, that you take your place, and she allowed me to be proud of it.
The documentary “is about joy, about celebration, about pride, about power. People can interpret it however they want, but it was important to me, and I think it was important to us, that this project about a Mexican-American icon be joyful, and more so now,” says the director.
The unpublished images of the artist are intermingled with anecdotes shared by the Quintanilla family: from the reaction of her father, Abraham, to Selena’s secret marriage to guitarist Chris Perez, to the band’s take-off and resounding success.
“I didn’t want to play drums, I was forced to because girls don’t usually play drums. But it excites me and makes me feel good when drummers come up to me and say, ‘I play drums because you inspired me,’ which blows my mind, it’s an honor,” Suzette says.
For Selena’s sister, who will forever carry on her legacy, there is also a deep pride for what they were able to represent and for the indelible mark they left as members of Selena and the Dinos.
“Not only as Latinas, but as a group, as a band, and, even more important to me, because of what we represent to my family, which is the closest thing,” she said, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
