Enki Bilal, a renowned comic book artist and filmmaker, was born in Yugoslavia to a Czech mother and a Bosnian father who used to be Tito's tailor. His family fled to France in 1960, where he discovered his passion for cinema and comic books. In 1971, Bilal won a contest organized by the famous comics magazine Pilote with his first story "L'appel des étoiles", which was later re-released under the title "Le bol maudit".
Bilal's collaboration with Pierre Christin began in 1975 with the comic book "La croisières des oubliés". They released "Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir" in 1979, which received great critics and a Prix RTL. Bilal also drew "Exterminateur 17" in 1978 for Metal Hurlant, with a scenario by Jean-Pierre Dionnet.
In 1980, Bilal released his first solo comic book, "La foire aux immortels", which was the first episode of his famous "Nikopol Trilogy". He designed the poster for Alain Resnais's film "Mon oncle d'Amérique" in 1980 and collaborated with Resnais again for the film "Life Is a Bed of Roses" in 1983, using glass painting techniques.
Bilal's collaboration with Christin continued for Dargaud Editions, releasing "Partie de Chasse" in 1983, which received many eulogistic critics in the French press. In 1985, he made some graphic researches for Jean-Jacques Annaud's film "The Name of the Rose" in 1986. He met Patrick Cauvin in 1986 and collaborated with him for "Hors jeu", a book of texts and illustrations on the theme of sports.
In 1987, Bilal received the prestigious First Prize at the comic books festival of Angoulême. He exhibited his work at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 1988, among works of photographer Josef Koudelka and artist Guy Peellaert.
Bilal's cinema ambitions led him to direct his first film, "Bunker palace hôtel", in 1989, co-written with Christin, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Carole Bouquet. He worked for the first time for stage shows, creating the costumes and production design of Denis Levaillant's contemporary opera "OPMia" in Avignon in 1990 and for Sergei Prokofiev's ballet "Roméo et Juliette" in Lyon in 1991.
After some album releases and re-releases, Bilal directed his second film, "Tykho Moon", in 1996, co-written by Dan Franck and starring Julie Delpy, Michel Piccoli, and Richard Bohringer. He released a graphic book based on his movie and started a new trilogy with "Le Sommeil du montre" in 1998.
In 1999, Bilal released a graphic book "Un siècle d'amour" with Dan Franck, followed by "Le Sarcophage" with Christin in 2000 and the second episode of his trilogy, "Trente-deux Décembre", in 2003. He made several exhibitions, including "Magma" in Naples, "Le Sarcophage" in Paris, and "enkibilalandeuxmilleun" in Paris, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Liège, Cherbourg, and Barcelona.
In 2004, Bilal directed his new film, "Immortal", produced by Charles Gassot, which was based on the first two episodes of the "Nikopol Trilogy". Bilal asked sci-fi writer Serge Lehman to help him with the scenario, and the film featured Linda Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann, and Charlotte Rampling.
