U.S. media and government have demonized Venezuelan

American Director Oliver Stone says the U.S. media and government have demonized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other leftist South American leaders, and argues in a new film that they were right to stand up to Washington.

Hugo Chavez landed in Venice Film Festival for the Oliver Stone's "South of the border" film's premiere, has earned a reputation for his outspoken criticism of U.S. policy, and in Stone's "South of the Border" he is sympathetically portrayed as a hero of the people who refuses to be bullied.

The leftist Latin American leader's arrived in the lagoon city to pay homage to Stone's documentary which in part deals with the alleged demonizing of Chavez by the US media and is screening out-of-competition at the festival. Chavez acknowledged the audience's applause with waving arms before taking up a seat next to Stone in the Sala Grande main hall of the film festival's Palazzo del Cinema venue. Earlier Monday, Stone praised Chavez, whom he interviews extensively in the film, and "all the wonderful change" which has occurred in Venezuela, since the former military officer came to power in 1999. The US filmmaker also defended Chavez's ties with Iran, that have come under fire from Washington. The Venezuelan president in Tehran on Sunday met his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and struck an agreement for Venezuela to export petrol to th e Islamic Republic. Chavez's visit for Stone's film - in which the director visits seven Latin American nations where he denounces the impact of Washington-inspired neo-liberal economic policies - has poured further fuel on an already politically charged festival. Saturday Venice saw the world premiere of the hard-hitting Capitalism: A Love Story by another controversial US director, Michael Moore. Moore, in his film which has been well received in Venice, roundly attacks the US banking system and US government policies, which he accuses of being the cause of the current financial crisis. Political waves from this year's festival have also seen Italian conservative parliamentarian Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, begin legal action last week against the makers of a Romanian film screened at the festival, which she alleges slandered her. In one scene of the film - Francesca, which denounces xenophobia in Italy against immigrants - a character refers to Mussolini as a "sow" who wants to have Romanians killed.

Originally an attempt to redress what Stone saw as unfair treatment of Chavez by TV networks and newspapers, the documentary turned into a bigger project and included interviews not only with him but with six other presidents in the region."I think the movie, if you've seen it, shows very clearly the level of stupidity in the kind of broad statements that are made about Mr. Chavez," Stone told reporters at the Venice film festival.

"But I didn't want to make a movie only about the American media's attacks. I felt that that was too small for what this man is about. This man is a big phenomenon.

"So we traveled in a road trip kind of movie to visit these other presidents and we saw the positive side of what is going on, the sweeping change in this region. It's a very important historical phenomenon that is ... ignored in America."

Chavez, surrounded by bodyguards, strolled with Stone on the Lido red carpet, posing for pictures and signing autographs like a movie star before receiving a standing ovation at the premiere on Monday.

"What's happening in Latin America is like a Renaissance," the Venezuelan leader told reporters.

South of the Border combines clips of U.S. broadcasters and commentators describing Chavez, one of them comparing him to Hitler, with interviews and news footage of economic upheaval across South America during the last decade.