The 62nd Cannes Film Festival is nearly upon us. Every year the frenzied fortnight pushes another handful of directors and stars into the limelight.

Most enjoy their five minutes and fade into relative obscurity, but some build full-length careers off the back of their festival success. Like...


Brigitte Bardot

Before: Aspiring ballet dancer, Elle cover model and novice actress.

At Cannes: Bardot became a press sensation after she was photographed in a bikini on the Cannes beachfront during the 1953 festival, hanging out with Hollywood stars Errol Flynn and Kirk Douglas.

After: She starred in Roger Vadim’s controversial arthouse hit And God Created Woman, and became the sex-kitten pin-up for a generation of boundary-breaking filmmakers.