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Born in Yugoslavia to a Czech mother and a Bosnian father who once served as Tito's tailor, Enki Bilal's family fled to France in 1960. There, he learned French and developed a passion for cinema and comic books. In 1971, he won a contest held by the renowned comics magazine Pilote with his first story, "L'appel des étoiles," which was published in Pilote and later reissued as "Le bol maudit." This success launched his career at the magazine, where he began illustrating politicians. In 1975, he met Pierre Christin, then the writer of "Valérian" for Pilote, and collaborated with him on "La croisière des oubliés." Their 1979 work, "Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir," received critical acclaim and earned the Prix RTL. In 1978, Bilal created "Exterminateur 17" for Metal Hurlant magazine, with a script by Jean-Pierre Dionnet, which was later published as an album in 1989.
In 1980, Bilal released his first solo comic book, "La foire aux immortels," the opening volume of the acclaimed "Nikopol Trilogy," followed by "La Femme piège" in 1986 and "Froid équateur" in 1993—the latter being the first comic book honored as best book of the year by the literary magazine Lire. He also designed the poster for Alain Resnais's _Mon oncle d'Amérique_ (1980). Two years later, he collaborated with Resnais again, contributing not only the poster but also costume designs and parts of the production design for _Life Is a Bed of Roses_ (1983), employing glass painting techniques. Continuing his partnership with Christin at Dargaud Editions, he released "Partie de Chasse" in 1983, which garnered widespread praise in the French press. In 1985, he conducted graphic research for Jean-Jacques Annaud's _The Name of the Rose_ (1986). He then teamed up with Patrick Cauvin for "Hors jeu" (1986), a book of texts and illustrations centered on sports. In 1987, Bilal received the prestigious First Prize at the Angoulême comic festival. The following year, his work was exhibited at Paris's Palais de Tokyo alongside that of photographer Josef Koudelka and artist Guy Peellaert.
Advancing his cinematic ambitions, Bilal directed his first film, _Bunker Palace Hôtel_ (1989), co-written with Christin and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Carole Bouquet. He also ventured into stage design, creating costumes and production design for Denis Levaillant's contemporary opera "OPA mia" in Avignon (1990) and Sergei Prokofiev's ballet _Roméo et Juliette_, choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj, in Lyon (1991). After several album releases and exhibitions—including "Transit" at Paris's Grande Arche de la Défense in 1992 and "Bleu Sang" in 1994—Bilal directed his second film, _Tykho Moon_ (1996), again featuring Trintignant alongside Julie Delpy, Michel Piccoli, and Richard Bohringer. The screenplay was co-written with Dan Franck, and the music composed by Goran Vejvoda. Bilal also published a graphic book inspired by the film. In 1998, he began a new trilogy with "Le Sommeil du monstre" (Les Humanoïdes Associés), followed by the graphic book "Un siècle d'amour" with Dan Franck in 1999, "Le Sarcophage" with Christin in 2000, and the trilogy’s second volume, "Trente-deux Décembre," in 2003. He held several exhibitions during this period: "Magma" in Naples (2000), "Le Sarcophage" in Paris (2000), and "enkibilalandeuxmilleun" in Paris (2001), later showcased in Sarajevo, Belgrade, Liège, Cherbourg, and Barcelona.
Producer Charles Gassot, a fan of Bilal’s work, decided to back a daring project, providing a significant budget of approximately 22 million Euros for Bilal’s film _Immortal_ (2004). The movie, based on the first two volumes of the "Nikopol Trilogy," featured a screenplay co-written with sci-fi author Serge Lehman. It combined digital and live-action characters and starred Linda Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann, and Charlotte Rampling. Bilal also cast Jean-Louis Trintignant, Frédéric Pierrot, and Yann Collette for the third time, with Goran Vejvoda returning to compose the music.
