Gay cowboy film brings Ang Lee Golden Lion

SENSE and Sensibility director Ang Lee’s controversial story of cowboys in love, Brokeback Mountain, has won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.

The film was adapted from a short story which appeared in The New Yorker in 1997, with Lee deciding to embark on the project after other names shied away from its controversial storyline.

Brokeback Mountain stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as a ranch hand and rodeo cowboy embarking on an affair.