A 21-year-old director from Kingswood who is enjoying worldwide acclaim with his first feature film has been shunned by the British Film Industry (BFI).

Simon Pearce was given the chance to direct SHANK, a gritty British gang drama revolving around crime and homosexuality, which was written by Bristol-based co-writers Christian Martin, 40, and Darren Flaxstone, 39. Scenes were shot at Brandon Hill, the former Elizabeth Shaw factory in Easton and Arnos Vale Cemetery.

Mr Martin and Mr Flaxstone, who have been working in the film industry for 15 years, spotted Mr Pearce's raw talent after he attended one of their workshops in Bristol.

Since SHANK, which cost less than an episode of Eastenders to make, was completed last March, it has been played at more than 25 film festivals across the world, including Melbourne, Cape Town, Toronto and New York and enjoyed rave reviews.

Last week, Simon was awarded the Roger Walker-Dack Award for Emerging Talents in Cinema at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Simon said: "I started in film when I was about 13 using a camcorder and editing them on my mum's laptop.

"Then I progressed and after I left college I worked as a freelance and worked as a camera assistant on the BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford and as a video assistant on Casino Royale at Pinewood Studios in London.

"In 2004 I submitted a 10-minute drama along with a friend called I to a competition called BBC Blast and was one of the top 10 that were shown on BBC2."

But despite Simon's obvious pedigree, the BFI has refused to enter the 90-minute film into either the BFI London Film Festival or the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Mr Martin, from Montpelier, said: "It was first requested by Melbourne and since that time it has snowballed and it has been all over the world.

"It has received fantastic acclaim, and word of mouth means that it has been screened at more and more festivals.

"The BFI are the only festival who have turned it down, saying that it lacked quality and merit but the acclaim in every other country flies in the face of that opinion.

"Given the acclaim and response from around the world, he should be the perfect candidate."

Co-writer Mr Flaxstone, from Stapleton, added: "Sometimes I think that people in positions of power really let it go to their head. It is particularly galling because we don't believe they even watched the final version."

Mr Pearce, who attended Wellsway School sixth form in Keynsham before dropping out to pursue a career in film, said: "This was a huge opportunity for me and I loved every minute of it and to receive such acclaim from abroad has been very humbling.

"But it has been a great disappointment that in my own country there seems to be a lack of support for the film when we keep being told how important it is to bring on British talent."

A BFI spokeswoman said: "The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival received around 800 submissions this year and unfortunately we only had space to screen around 200 so inevitably some filmmakers were going to be disappointed."

SHANK will be screened at the Watershed on Saturday, July 18 before it goes to art house cinemas. It will be released on DVD in November.