French writer, actor and filmmaker Cyril Collard was BOTD in 1957. Born in Paris to a prominent middle-class family, he was educated at private boarding schools, and studied engineering at the Instiut industriel du Nord in Lille, taking filmmaking classes at L’université Lille-III in his spare time. He abandoned his engineering studies, travelling to South America where he had his first sexual experiences with men. On his return to Paris, he applied unsuccessfully to study filmmaking at L’Institut des hautes études cinématographiques. Undeterred, he apprenticed with filmmaker Maurice Pialat, working as assistant director on Pialat’s 1980 film Loulou starring Isabelle Huppert and Gérard Depardieu, and appearing in small roles in Police and À nos amours. In 1987, he published his debut novel Condamné Amour (Condemned Love), disclosing his HIV positive status and alluding to being sexually assaulted as a minor at boarding school. He became a national celebrity in France after the publication of his 1989 novel Les Nuits Fauves (Savage Nights), an autobiographical portrait of a young bisexual man with HIV who has unprotected sex with men and women. The book’s success and controversial themes led to Collard appearing on several TV talk shows, where he discussed his bisexuality and HIV status. After making several short films, he directed an episode of TV crime drama Le Lyonnais, focusing on the queer sexual underworld of contemporary Lyon. In 1992, he wrote, directed and starred in a film adaptation of Savage Nights, becoming one of the first French directors to directly address the HIV/AIDS crisis. Widely praised by critics, the film’s frank depiction of bisexuality and unprotected sex caused controversy, as did a scene where the main character’s girlfriend asks him to infect her with HIV. Collard died in March 1993 of an AIDS-related illness, aged 35. Three days later, Savage Nights was awarded four César Awards, including best film and best first film. Collard’s death prompted an outpouring of public grief, with thousands attending his funeral at Pére-Lachaise cemetery and French President François Mitterand declaring him “an example for French youth”. In 1994, journalist Françoise Giroud reported that one of Collard’s lovers, Erika Prou, had contracted HIV after a sexual encounter with Collard, later dying of an AIDS-related illness. Giroud’s revelation was widely criticised, with many of Collard’s supporters pointing out that HIV/AIDS screening tests were not available in France until 1986. In 1995, Collard’s parents created the Fondation Cyril Collard in his honour, to provide support for people living with HIV/AIDS. He remains a beloved and controversial figure in France. In 2021, conservative writer Michel Onfray stated in a radio programme “Remember Cyril Collard who had AIDS and who believed he had the right to sleep with people without a condom.” He was included as a character in Christopher Honoré’s 2018 play Les Idoles, depicting a purgatory inhabited by French public figures who died of AIDS, including filmmaker Jacques Demy and writer Hervé Guibert.