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EXCLUSIVE: Shortly after winning a Sundance Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling, the Isabel Castro movie Selena y Los Dinos has been removed from the film festival’s streaming site.
We hear that die-hard fans were recording one to three minute pieces of the documentary and posting them on TikTok and Instagram. Sundance has never had this type of situation occur in their five years of making the lineup available online to ticket-holders; the fest taking copyright and artistic ownership quite seriously. Given the extremely passionate audience for the late Queen of Tejano Music, Sundance and the filmmakers scrubbed the documentary out of an abundance of caution.
“The Sundance Film Festival and the creative team of Selena y Los Dinos are sorry to inform our viewers that the film has suffered a series of copyright infringements and must therefore be removed from the Sundance Film Festival online platform,” said a Sundance rep in a statement to Deadline.
“We regret that online ticket holders will no longer be able to access the film. Any single ticket holder who has not yet viewed the film will receive a full refund for the ticket,” continued the statement.
“We acknowledge and regret that this may cause disappointment, however part of our commitment to advocating for independent filmmakers is ensuring that they can protect their art that they have created and earn a living — now and in the future.”
“We take copyright infringement extremely seriously and intend to fully cooperate with local, state, and federal law enforcement.”
Selena y Los Dinos follows Selena Quintanilla and her family band, as they rose from performing at quinceañeras to selling out stadium tours. The docu chronicles her life through never-before-seen footage from the family’s personal archive. The movie made its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary competition section. Cinetic is handling sales on Selena y Los Dinos.
Earlier today the Sundance Jury citation for Selena y Los Dinos read, “This award goes to a film that transported us to a specific time and place, evoking themes of family, heritage, love, and adolescence. The power of the story speaks to the essential nature of the archive — employed in this film to chart the emergence of a once-in-a-generation talent. The winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling goes to Selena y Los Dinos.”
The Sundance Film Festival wraps on Sunday, Feb. 2. Other movies are still available to watch on the online portal through end of day Feb. 2.
