The producer of one the most controversial films to be screened at Cannes has spoken out against his critics.

Even hardened movie-going professionals have been stunned by the graphic violence in The Great Ecstasy Of Robert Carmichael, the only British film in the Cannes Film Festival.

For the past few days, public screenings of the film, set in Newhaven, have prompted a stampede of punters heading for the exit.

Typically, these defections occur during the movie's dying moments when the three protagonists break into the home of a preening celebrity chef, truss him up and then proceed to brutalise his wife with a bottle.

The gang rape scene was described by one critic as so violent "it makes A Clockwork Orange look like a Britney Spears video".

But co-writer and producer Joe Lang, from Brighton, said the violence was a vital feature of the film.

Mr Lang, 24, said: "This is what happens in the name of the state, because of our governments, regularly in countries around the world.

"People need reminding that this is what violence is actually like. It should revolt and disgust you when people do certain things.

"In Tarantino films, we laugh when a man gets raped by another man.

"In ours someone gets raped and you can't help but feel shocked and appalled.

"Isn't that a good thing?

"I am not asking every film to be like this. But as long as its intentions are thoughtful and honest then I think it's okay."

The Great Ecstasy, an uncompromising tale of alienation set in a soulless seaside town, charts the descent into brutality of three teenage boys, against the backdrop of the invasion of Iraq.

As the violence unfolds in the Middle East, so it does in the boys' lives.

In angry question-and-answer sessions following public screenings, first-time director Thomas Clay, also from Brighton, said he wanted audiences to feel shocked and disgusted.

Mr Lang said the pair wanted to confront audiences with the sheer hypocrisy of how we moralise about violence.

He said: "People close their eyes and turn away from the violence that is happening in the world. The people that walked out and the people who have been having these angry reactions just don't want to think about these things.

"But we should face up to it.

"Drama is a way you can try to get people to do that."

The Great Ecstasy was filmed entirely in Sussex, mainly in Newhaven, and used a lot of local actors and crew.

Despite working with an extremely tight budget, Mr Clay and Mr Lang managed to secure the services of well-known British actors Lesley Manville and Danny Dyer and one of the world's most famous cinematographers, Yorgos Arvanitis.

For many critics the film has achieved its aim. One prominent reviewer labelled it "a disturbing state of the nation wake-up call", it has been well-received by the French left-wing Press and all agree the photography is superb.

But with a rape scene "excruciating beyond any in memory", the film faces a challenge if it is to be shown in British cinemas.