We can forgive famed lenswoman Annie Leibovitz if she thinks the world looks out of focus. Already embroiled in a legal battle over repayment of a $24 mil loan, Leibovitz now finds another smudge on her lens. Italian photog Paolo Pizzetti has filed a lawsuit claiming she helped herself to pix he had made of the Piazza San Marco in Venice and the Trevi Fountain in Rome, superimposed images of models on them, and used the edited shots for a 2009 calendar. So reports BBC.com, which further informs that the aggrieved shutterbug wants use of the images discontinued and seeks $300,000 for copyright infringement. Pizzetti claims that Leibovitz, 59, used the photos without permission. Her rep declined comment, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, Leibovitz is fighting a suit by Art Capital Group of New York, which loaned her the $24 million and is accusing her of breach of promise. With a repayment deadline today, at risk are Leibovitz's rights to all those images of rockers and royalty and famous folk that led the Library of Congress to declare her a "Living Legend."

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Life imitates art - but only a little

Actor Michael Imperioli, whose Sopranos character, Christopher Moltisanti, was obsessed with moviemaking, will premiere his first directing effort, the independent film The Hungry Ghosts, in New York next Tuesday.

Sopranos cast members Steve Schirripa and Sharon Angela star in the film. Vince Curatola, Lorraine Bracco, and Vincent Pastore are expected to attend.

Proceeds from the premiere, described as "a private screening," will go for a cause that would have left Christopher with a blank stare: Tibetan refugees and elderly Buddhist monks led by the Dalai Lama.

"Buddhism is an antidote to the characters in the film," said Imperioli, 43, who studies Eastern philosophy and practices taekwondo with his wife Victoria and children.

The film tracks its characters through 36 gritty hours in New York. "They're lost and searching for something, restless and desirous of something spiritual - and physical," he told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's a common affliction, a universal one."

Ghosts opened the International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands in January.

With his wife coproducing and designing the sets, plus the actors' modest fees, the 105-minute movie was shot on a budget of just $600,000.

And the carpet was red

To the cheers of an admiring crowd, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez walked the red carpet in Venice yesterday with filmmaker Oliver Stone for the premiere of the documentary South of the Border at the Venice Film Festival.

And when the two spoke, mutual admiration bubbled. Chavez had kind words for Stone. Stone had kind words for Chavez.

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

Stone pronounced Chavez to be "a guy you should meet and get to know. . . . He's the star of the movie."

"He's not a dictator," Stone assured, while conceding that the president does have a provocative side.

The moviemaker waved aside any need to document opposition to Chavez in his documentary.

"A dark side? There's a dark side to everything. Why do you seek out the dark side when the guy is doing good things?" Stone asked. "He is a democrat and there is opposition to him, and he's not perfect. But he is doing tremendous things for Venezuela and the region."

It wouldn't be Labor Day without Jerry

Jerry Lewis went on the air for his kids yesterday and the day before, as he has every Labor Day weekend since 1966.

The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, broadcast live from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, raised $60.5 million on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association - a drop from last year's $65 million.

"These are very special people, and their money comes straight from the heart," Lewis said. "Right now, the only thing I can think of to say, other than thank you, thank you is, 'love conquers all.' "