Off-Road Racing Film "Legends of Baja" Wins Best Doc Short, @ IFS Film Festival 2018, The Grove

LOS ANGELES - May 22, 2018 - PRLog -- Legends of Baja tells the historic story of the famous off-road race across the Baja Desert, the Mexican 1000, from Ensenada to La Paz known as "the longest, toughest, and most dangerous race in the world!" with legends and icons of the screen Steve McQueen, James Garner, and former Monkeeys member, Mike Nesmith competing against racing legends of their day, Parnelli Jones, Bruce Meyers, and Rod Hall among others in the infamous 1969 race. "This is a racing fans dream come true!" says Executive Producer Igor Kay.

This archival film was discovered by chance in a hidden Vault  -  and gives viewers a glimpse of a bygone-era and 3 generations of racers later, with dust in their veins who still come back to the Baja year after year to test out their skills and machines against the punishing desert course.

The IFS Film Festival, is an Independent Filmmaker Showcase Film Festival dedicated to the support of groundbreaking cinema from around the world providing screening and development opportunities for independent filmmakers through showcases, events, and an annual Film Festival for two weeks from May 9^th – 20^th, 2018.  IFS proudly hosts over 200 film premieres  representing the best of the best new and independent cinema from all over the world.

This announcement follows three International wins in the past six months for the Baja Sun Film team Director, Jack Cooperman, Executive Producer Igor Kay, and Co-Producer Jane S. Linter. Legends of Baja debuts historic never-before-seen archival 16mm film footage shot in 1969 of Steve McQueen and James Garner among many other professional racers of the day who entered into an off-road race in Baja, California, Mexico, which  has come to be known as "the longest, toughest and most dangerous race in the world!". More than 200 people entered the race, but less than half would finish & some would pay with their lives.

The Independent Filmmakers Showcase Film Festival began in 1994 when a group of Los Angeles film lovers decided to curate screenings on college campuses and in back yards screening 16mm and 35mm rare film prints. Today, the IFS has grown to a 150 person membership of film lovers devoted to cinema preservation and off-beat films.  Screenings are held in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, & Santa Monica cinemas. IFS Festival films are chosen by democratic voting from the150+ IFS Film Society Membership and films are unveiled to premiere at the IFS LA FILM FEST award celebrations held at the world-famous Grove of Los Angeles and including over 200 screenings at cinemas across Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, & Santa Monica, with after-parties at the W Hotel Hollywood. 2018 presents a festival line-up of new films from or featuring Neil Blomkamp, Jeff Bridges, Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Greta Gerwig, Seth Rogen, Marisa Tomei, Piper Laurie, Brooke Adams, Kate Mulgrew, Jane Lynch, Minnie Driver, Helen Slater, Rebecca Miller, David Banner, Steven Culp, Tom Everett Scott, Peter Stormare, Mark Boone Junior, Robert Picardo, Patrick Fugit, DJ Qualls, Stephen Tobolowsky, Richard Riehle, Walter Koenig, & Gigi Edgley, along with legendary curated cinema showcases featuring the best new filmmakers.

IFS has in the past premiered Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, David Cronenberg's Map To The Stars, Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac, Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers (starring James Franco), and Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals (starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal). IFS Guests include legends Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction), John Hillcoat (dir. The Road), Michael Madsen (The Hateful Eight / Kill Bill), Rick Glassman(NBC's Undateable), Blake Clarke (The Waterboy), Illeana Douglas (Ghost World, Goodfellas), Jesse James (The Butterfly Effect), Dominique Swain (Lolita), and the amazing Karen Gillan (Dr. Who, Guardians of the Galaxy). Cinema icons Werner Herzog, Gary Oldman, Guillermo Del Toro, Jodie Foster, Taylor Hackford, Adrian Lyne, John Badham, Nicholas Cage, Warren Beatty, James L. Brooks, as well as musicians Carlos Santana and Ben Harper all appear in IFS documentary film showcases this year.  IFS Film Fest has hosted event screenings for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, John Hillcoat's Triple 9, Jim Jarmusch's Paterson, Atom Egoyan's Remember, the Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone musical La La Land (from director Damien Chazelle), A Perfect Day (featuring Benicio Del Toro and Tim Robbins), as well as the re-release of ROAR starring Melanie Griffithand Tippi Hedren. New independent cinema premieres from producers Jane Fonda, Robert Zemeckis, Jon Peters, James Franco, Richard LaGravenese, William Shatner, Tim & Eric and Stan Lee screen at this years IFS Film Festival alongside premieres from directors John Lee Hancock, Madchen Amick, Eric Stoltz and IFS curated retrospectives honoring Tom Noonan, Eric Bogosian, and Kenneth Anger. Films starring Gena Rowlands, Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Danny Glover, Lacey Chabert, Olivia D'bo, John Ennis, Brendan Small, and Lou Diamond Philips screen at IFS, with films featuring original scores by Warren Ellis, and Lee Ranaldo, as well as IFS documentaries that feature Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Burt Reynolds, Danny Trejo, Talia Shire, Eva Haller, Ralph Macchio, Sylvester Stallone, and Martin Scorsese. Lana & Lilly Wachowski, Julianne Moore, Brandy, Fred Willard, Jane Seymour, Nile Rodgers, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Amber Tamblyn, Tom Sizemore, David Cross, Lauren Holly, Priscilla Barnes, Doug Jones, and James Earl Jones are just a few of the notable past honorees and guests of the IFS/Los Angeles Film Festival.

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