The Cannes film festival can be heaven for some and hell for others. It brings up starkly different memories for Polish film-maker Andrzej Wajda and Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, the two said in interviews with AFP-TV.

Wajda, who will be in Cannes for this year's 60th edition May 16-27, recalled how the filmfest helped launch his career while landing him in hot water in communist Poland. Cannes helped by handing him a special jury prize when aged only 29, in 1957, for his film entitled "Kanal" in Polish.