MANILA, Philippines ? Filipino film director Brillante Mendoza, who won best director in the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival, has been chosen as a member of the jury in the 62nd Film Festival Locarno from August 5 to 15 in Switzerland, the Philippine embassy in Berne announced on Tuesday.

According to a report to the home office by Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland Maria Theresa P. Lazaro, Mendoza will serve as a member of the jury for the ?Filmmakers of the Present Competition? in the international film festival that will last for 11 days.

Lazaro said the choice of Mendoza was ?a recognition of the Filipino?s artistry, creativity, and technical mastery.?

The Film Festival Locarno has been held every year in August in Locarno since 1946. The festival?s main feature is the open-air screening space in Piazza Grande, with room for over 8,000 spectators.

The top prize is the Golden Leopard awarded to the best film in the international competition.

Mendoza was discovered in Locarno in 2005 with his film, "Masahista," (Masseur) which won the Golden Leopard in the Video Competition.

Other awards include the Leopard of Honour for outstanding directors? career and the Prix the Public UBS for the public choice.

Throughout its history, the festival has discovered new trends and launched the career of directors such as Claude Chabrol, Stanley Kubrick, Milos Forman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Marco Bellocchio, Alain Tanner, Mike Leigh, Spike Lee, Alexandr Sokurov, Abbas Kiarostami, Kim Ki-Duk and many others.

Around 180,000 cinema-goers, 1,100 journalists and 3,400 professionals are expected to converge in this small Swiss-Italian town which is considered as the Swiss summer capital, according to Lazaro?s report.

It is located at the crossroads of three major regions of Switzerland, capturing audiences which represent three major European cultures -- Italian, German and French.

Lazaro said that Locarno?s long-standing tradition of openness and dialogue made it an ideal platform for the promotion of national cinemas from Europe and the world over, from South America to Asia.

?Locarno knows no borders, whether geographic, thematic or stylistic, and via its dozen different sections welcomes all kinds of films, and all kinds of formats,? she said.