Chavez wows red carpet crowd at Venice filmfest

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and veteran filmmaker Oliver Stone took to the red carpet at the Venice film festival Monday for the premiere of "South of the Border".

Chavez stopped to flirt with the crowd, signing dozens of autographs and bestowing kisses on some of his admirers pressed against the barricade ahead of the hard-hitting documentary's world premiere.

"Long live Italy, sweetheart," the Venezuelan leader could be heard saying to one well-wisher.

At another point, he told a reporter that Stone's film "paid homage to our people".

Clowning around a bit during the 20-minute stop, he grabbed a woman's camera and used it to take a picture of her and her friends.

"South of the Border", a look at Chavez's role in the bottom-up change sweeping South America, is being shown out of competition at the prestigious festival.

Through a series of interviews interlaced with footage from US media and official statements, Stone's documentary seeks to show that Chavez is not "public enemy number one" as so often depicted on US media outlets such as Fox News.

The Oscar-winning director tells the story of Venezuela's "peaceful revolution" since Chavez came to power in 1998, and how Venezuela's transformation has had knock-on effects in the rest of the continent.