Till Kleinert's Cowboy has been named as the 2008 winner of the Iris Prize, Cardiff's international gay and lesbian short film prize, valued at £25,000. The winning film tells the story of a city dweller and a country lad who pay a terrible price for love.

The filmmaker also received the £500 Goleudy Travel award for his film which he will use to return to the UK to make his next film.

Festival organiser Berwyn Rowlands said: 'Cowboy is a fantastic film that captured the imagination of the jury and the general public. Till Kleinert is a huge talent. I'm very excited that he will return to Wales to make a new film with his prize.'

American James Bolton received £1,000 for winning the festival's new award for best feature film with Dream Boy , a love story between teenagers in the American South in the 1970s. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland director Connor Clements won the Skillset Best UK Short for his film James. He received £1,000 from Skillset towards training.

The festival which took place between Oct 2- 4 screened six of the latest gay and lesbian feature films, some of which enjoyed their UK or European premieres.