The 69th Venice Film Festival is shaping up to be a showcase for a handful of veteran American directors with Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma and Paul Thomas Anderson in the competition mix, Deadline said.

Appearing out of competition with his Michael Jackson documentary, Bad 25, Spike Lee will also receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2012 award.

The prize is dedicated to “a personality who has brought great innovation to contemporary cinema,” the fest said.

Alberto Barbera, in his first outing as artistic director at Venice, said, “Spike Lee is a bold creative spirit, the author of daring and corrosive films, often unpredictable and provocative in the best sense of the term. Films that challenge us to rethink our prejudices and our preconceptions.”

Lee will receive the tribute on Aug 31 at the festival which runs from Aug 29 to Sept 8. Previous Glory to the Filmmaker recipients include Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnès Varda, Sylvester Stallone, Mani Ratnam and Al Pacino.