US director Tim Burton will receive the Golden Lion for Career Achievement at the 64th edition of the Venice Film Festival, the Biennale announced Wednesday. Burton will receive the award on September 5 during a special 'Tim Burton Day' in the Lido's Palazzo del Cinema.

Burton - who has presented two animation films The Nightmare Before Christmas (1994) and Corpse Bride (2005) at the Venice Film Festival will receive the career honour just one year after another offbeat American director was honoured: David Lynch was 2006's recipient.

Burton was selected for his skill at working in Hollywood while agilely producing films that fall 'outside the typical paradigm of American cinema'; for demonstrating 'a surprising versatility without sacrificing the thematic and stylistic unity of his work'; and for making films that 'shift from incanting to melancholic...and know how to pair gothic horror and eccentric comedy,' a press statement from the Biennale said.

The director is currently working with male muse Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands) on the project Sweeney Todd, which is based on the Broadway musical hit of the same name.

Marco Muller, the fest's artistic director, called Burton a 'genius' and a 'visionary.'

The 64th edition of the Venice Film Festival takes place August 29- September 8, 2007.

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