Three Sussex students were celebrating today after their documentary film won a prestigious award.

The 22-minute film, which focused on attitudes to women in World War Two, was voted Best Documentary by visitors to the Imperial War Museum in London ahead of 12 other films.

Susie Passingham, Stephen Hill and Anna Nomikou, all students at Sussex University in Brighton, made the film as part of their masters degree in life history research.

The work explores how fighting in the Second World War affected the status of women and incorporates archive footage from the Imperial War Museum collection.

Susie, 26, who now works for McKinnon Films in London, said: "We were delighted when we learnt we had won an award. It was brilliant news for all of us.

"None of us had ever done any film-making before and we were learning as we went along.

"Making the film was very inspiring for me and helped me decide I wanted to work in television."

The students' media studies tutor Dee Kilkelly gave them a crash course in editing before they embarked on the project and was always at hand to offer technical assistance.

He said: "They produced a well-constructed documentary which is witty in places and they surely deserve the recognition they have now received."