Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez received a movie star welcome Monday at the Venice Film Festival, where he walked the red carpet with director Oliver Stone for the premiere of the documentary "South of the Border."

Hundreds of admirers, some chanting "president, president," gathered outside of the Casino for the leader's arrival. A few held up Venezuelan flags and a banner in Spanish that read "Welcome, president."

Chavez threw a flower into the crowd and touched his heart, and at one point took a photographer's camera to snap a picture himself. Security outside the Casino was tightened in advance of his arrival, with military police checking bags.

Chavez praised Stone's work for depicting what he said were improvements made across Latin America.

"Rebirth is happening in Latin America, and Stone went to look for it and he • found it," Chavez told reporters. "With his cameras and his genius, he's captured a good part of that rebirth."

Stone says "South of the Border" is meant to illustrate "the sweeping changes" in South America in recent years as a direct counterpoint to what he sees as Chavez's depiction as a dictator by U.S. and European media.

Stone spent extensive time with Chavez for the 75-minute documentary, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, and also interviewed the leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Cuba and Paraguay, whom Stone said "are on the same page" as Chavez.

"He's a guy you should meet and get to know. ... He's the star of the movie," Stone said in an interview before the premiere.

Stone said he wanted to illustrate changes that put in power in many South American countries leaders who represent the majority of their populations, a movement exemplified by Chavez. He cited Bolivian President Evo Morales, the first Native American to be elected president, and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a well-known trade unionist.

"If you look now, there are seven presidents, eight countries with Chile, that are really moving away from the Washington consensus control," Stone said. "But in America, theydon'tget thatstory."

Stone was invited to Venezuela to meet Chavez for the

first time during the Venezuelan leader’s aborted rescue mission of Colombian hostages held by FARC rebels. Stone said the Chavez he met was different than some U.S. media depictions.

He returned in January to interview Chavez, and continued on to four other countries to interview Chavez's allies, with Cuban and Ecuadorean leaders joining him in Paraguay.

Stone is best known for his dramas, but he also has made four documentaries, including "Comandante," the 2003 documentary based on a meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, which the director says in many ways led him to Chavez.

Chavez's critics accuse him of growing increasingly authoritarian while sidelining key opponents and trying to

clamp down on the private media.

Opponents also say Chavez's international crusade against U.S. influence is misguided, and accuse him of ignoring problems at home ranging from rampant crime to corruption.

The movie's screenwriter is Tariq Ali, the British-Pakistani historian who most recently wrote "Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope," and it was pro-duced by Fernando Sulichin. Stone also was advised by economist Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"South of the Border” was shown out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, which ends Saturday with the awarding of the Golden Lion.