Film director Jonathan Glendening is taking his new movie to next month's prestigious Cannes Film Festival following its Brighton premiere.

The feature film Summer Rain was shot in Brighton and Hove and made its debut at the Duke of York's Cinema in Brighton last week.

The movie follows the coming-of-age of three girls Michelle, Vicky and Becky, who live in the city.

Armed with only chocolate and ice-cream, the girls, played by Clea Smith, Lara Clancy and Cath Sampson, face up to the fact it is time to start growing up.

The story opens at Michelle's 21st birthday party when she breaks up with her long-term boyfriend.

Jonathan said: "The film is about three girls sharing a house in Brighton and their inter-weaving love lives.

"It was shot over five weeks in 1998 and three in 1999.

"It is a small independent film and we are trying to arrange its distribution.

"It's early days but we are getting a film festival campaign together."

Everything about the film has a Brighton air - even the soundtrack features up-and-coming local bands.

Jonathan said he was hopeful the movie would help put Brighton on the map in the film world.

The film was aired to acclaim at the London Raindance Film Festival.

Raindance programming director Elliot Grove wrote: "Debut director and co-writer Jonathan Glendening's light touch is refreshing and his emphasis on the ensemble playing suits the material well.

"The young cast are allowed to bounce off each other, convincingly suggesting their tangled relationships in the same vein as the BBC's This Life."

Jonathan, 31, has previously directed three short films but this is his first full-length movie.

He wrote, produced and directed the work but said in the future he would not perform all three roles because of the workload.

He has already been commissioned to direct a new film, Cowboys and Indians, which centres on a pub football team who are sponsored by an Indian takeaway.