# Rob Rombout

> Rob Rombout (b. 1953, Amsterdam) is a Dutch documentary filmmaker, photographer and teacher, based in Brussels since 1975 and now also in Lisbon. His films about journeys, vessels and places named after other places have screened at IDFA, Cinéma du Réel and IndieLisboa. He co-founded the Erasmus Mundus master DocNomads.

Official website of Rob Rombout. Facts on this site are sourced and dated (last verified 2026-10-10); see https://www.robrombout.com/en/facts/ and https://www.robrombout.com/data/facts.json.

## Identity
- Dutch filmmaker and photographer, born in Amsterdam in 1953, based in Brussels since 1975 and in Lisbon.
- Roles: documentary filmmaker, photographer, teacher of film (since 1988).
- Chinese name: 罗布·龙博特
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15069902
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0739157/

## Biography
Rob Rombout (b. 1953, Amsterdam; raised in Zaandam) is a Dutch documentary filmmaker, photographer and teacher, based in Brussels since 1975 and now also in Lisbon. Since a 1978 student film he has made some forty works, many broadcast by ARTE, RTBF and France Télévisions: films set in closed worlds that move, such as a night train to Moscow, a transatlantic liner and a North Sea oil rig, and films about places that borrowed a name, among them Amsterdam Stories USA (2012, with Rogier van Eck; IDFA; Audience Award, IndieLisboa 2013) and On the Track of Robert van Gulik (2016). His method is the subject of Marc-Emmanuel Mélon's monograph La mise en scène du réel (2022). He taught documentary directing at Sint-Lukas, now LUCA School of Arts, from 1988 to 2018, and co-founded the DocNomads master. His photographs, collected in PORTRAITS / on the road (2024), have been shown in Paris, Lisbon and Bredevoort.

## Films
- [Denken, denken, denken](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1978-denken-denken-denken/) (1978, 11′): Rob Rombout's student film at the RITCS film school in Brussels.
- [Le pouvoir d'achat des chômeurs](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1983-le-pouvoir-dachat-des-chomeurs/) (1983, 21′): An early film for Canal Emploi, the Liège community television made with and for unemployed workers.
- [L'Homme qui en disait trop](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1985-lhomme-qui-en-disait-trop/) (1985, 22′): One union delegate against a multinational: an unequal duel at the factory gate.
- [Pas de cadeau pour Noël](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1986-pas-de-cadeau-pour-noel/) (1986, 25′): A Rwandan immigrant in Liège, far from home at Christmas.
- [Entre deux tours](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1987-entre-deux-tours/) (1987, 16′): On the Belgian–Dutch border, a prophet's tower and a NATO tower talk past each other.
- [Nord-Express](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1990-nord-express/) (1990, 59′): Paris to Moscow in 47 hours, in 1990, on a train that has outlived two world wars and now the Wall.
- [Transatlantique, Queen Elizabeth 2](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1992-transatlantique-queen-elizabeth-2/) (1992, 57′): Five days, three thousand people and one ocean, on board the last of the great transatlantic liners.
- [L'Île noire](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1994-lile-noire/) (1994, 52′): Eighty men and one woman, a steel island in the North Sea, and the routines that keep them sane.
- [Les Açores de Madredeus](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1995-les-acores-de-madredeus/) (1995, 40′): A band at the height of its fame searches the Azores for the roots of its sound.
- [Amsterdam via Amsterdam](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1998-amsterdam-via-amsterdam/) (1998, 80′, with Rogier van Eck): Two Amsterdammers sail to the Arctic and the Antarctic to look back at their city from the two islands that share its name.
- [Perm-mission](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/1999-perm-mission/) (1999, 52′): The only foreigner at a documentary festival in the frozen Urals listens to Russian filmmakers argue about the truth.
- [Le Piège de Kerguelen](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2000-le-piege-de-kerguelen/) (2000, 40′): On the islands of desolation, scientists trap the descendants of an explorer's cats, and the cats look back.
- [Canton la Chinoise](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2001-canton-la-chinoise/) (2001, 52′, with Robert Cahen): Five people in Guangzhou watch their city disappear and rebuild itself, always through a pane of glass.
- [Les Passagers de l'Alsace](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2002-les-passagers-de-lalsace/) (2002, 52′): Ten Alsatians, one train, and three questions about looking, listening and speed.
- [Kaléidoscope: Overloon](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2003-kaleidoscope-overloon/) (2003, 26′): An episode of ARTE's Kaléidoscope series, set in the penitentiary centre of Overloon in the Netherlands.
- [Kaléidoscope: The Jagiellonian University](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2004-kaleidoscope-jagiellonian-university/) (2004, 26′): An episode of ARTE's Kaléidoscope series, set in the Jagiellonian University of Kraków.
- [Queen Mary 2, naissance d'une légende](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2004-queen-mary-2/) (2004, 72′): How the biggest ocean liner ever built went from a shipowner's bet to a ship at sea.
- [Panamerica](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2010-panamerica/) (2010, 40′): A research film on the road movie as a genre, shot along the roads of Chile and Bolivia.
- [Amsterdam Stories USA](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2012-amsterdam-stories-usa/) (2012, 4 × 90′, with Rogier van Eck): Two Dutch filmmakers cross the United States through fifteen towns called Amsterdam, collecting the America that lives between the coasts.
- [On the Track of Robert van Gulik](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2016-on-the-track-of-robert-van-gulik/) (2016, 87′): A filmmaker follows a Dutch diplomat-sinologist across three continents and finds that the detective he invented has outlived the man.
- [Joost de Vries](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/2016-joost-de-vries/) (2016, 15′): A portrait of the Dutch writer Joost de Vries.
- [Amsterdam Side by Side](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/amsterdam-side-by-side/) (in progress, 90′, with Rogier van Eck): The third part of the Amsterdam trilogy: a double portrait of Amsterdam in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and Nieuw-Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
- [Video Veterans](https://www.robrombout.com/en/films/video-veterans/) (in progress): Four pioneers of video art, filmed by a fellow traveller who knew them when the medium was young.

## Photography
- [PORTRAITS / on the road](https://www.robrombout.com/en/photography/portraits-on-the-road/) (2015–): People met on the road, photographed where they live and work, in natural light, after the pose has gone.
- [On the Road – in Bredevoort](https://www.robrombout.com/en/photography/on-the-road-in-bredevoort/) (2025–2026): Sixteen portraits made in one week of November 2025, in natural light, in a small town in the Achterhoek.
- [Amsterdam Stories](https://www.robrombout.com/en/photography/amsterdam-stories/) (2016): Portraits from the fifteen American towns called Amsterdam, made along the road of the film.
- [35 Years on the Move](https://www.robrombout.com/en/photography/35-years-on-the-move/) (1983–2018): Images from thirty-five years of filming, shown with the films in Brisbane.
- [Being [Not] There](https://www.robrombout.com/en/photography/being-not-there/) (2018): An exhibition in three venues in Liège, built around trains, ships and cars.

## Books
- [Rob Rombout. La mise en scène du réel](https://www.robrombout.com/en/books/la-mise-en-scene-du-reel/), Marc-Emmanuel Mélon, Yellow Now, Côté cinéma 2022, ISBN 978-2-87340-480-2
- [PORTRAITS / on the road](https://www.robrombout.com/en/books/portraits-on-the-road/), Rob Rombout, Yellow Now, Côté photo 2024, ISBN 978-2-87340-502-1
- [On the Road – in Bredevoort](https://www.robrombout.com/en/books/on-the-road-in-bredevoort/), Rob Rombout,  2026

## Teaching
- Sint-Lukas / LUCA School of Arts, Brussels: Atelier supervisor in documentary directing, 1988–2018
- Université Paris 8: Teacher, 1989–1999
- INSAS, Brussels: Teacher, 1989–1995
- IHECS, Brussels: Teacher, 1992–1993
- RITCS, Brussels: Documentary, third-year bachelor, 1996–2011
- Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg: Documentary, DESS programme, 2000–2002
- Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge: Workshop, 2006
- SKDA, Hanoi (for INSAS): Course director of a joint programme, two sessions a year, 2010–2020
- DocNomads (Erasmus Mundus joint master): Co-founder; course director in Brussels, 2012–2019
- FAMU, Prague: Online masterclass, 2020
- ESTC, Lisbon: Teacher, 2020–2021
- ESAP, Porto: Postgraduate teaching, 2020–2021
- ZeLIG School for Documentary, Bolzano: Teacher, 2021–2022
- American University of Technology, Beirut: Workshops, most recently 2023
- Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon: Guest lecturer

## Selected events
- 24 April 2026 – 3 May 2026: On the Road – in Bredevoort, Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- 22 April 2026: Book presentation: On the Road – in Bredevoort, Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- 14 March 2026: Le Piège de Kerguelen and Les Açores de Madredeus, BNU, Arsmondo Îles festival of the Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg
- 13 March 2026: On the Track of Robert van Gulik, with a talk, Lieu d'Europe, L'Europe des lettres, Strasbourg
- 15 November 2025 – 16 November 2025: Portrait photography masterclass, Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- 7 November 2025 – 18 January 2026: Portraits on the Road, Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- November 2025: One-week residency: sixteen portraits in natural light, Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- 25 September 2025: Two masterclasses: The mise-en-scène of reality, and Teaching documentary (DocNomads), Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon
- 23 September 2025: Entre deux tours and Les Açores de Madredeus, new remasters, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon
- 20 September 2025: Amsterdam Stories USA, complete, Cinemateca Portuguesa, with the Netherlands Embassy, Lisbon
- 18 September 2025 – 28 October 2025: Rob Rombout, a mise en scène do real, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon
- 18 September 2025 – 28 October 2025: On the Road, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon
- 29 November 2024 – 8 December 2024: On the Road, Atelier Néerlandais, with the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris
- 27 November 2024: Focus Rob Rombout, Mois du doc, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris
- April 2024: PORTRAITS / on the road is published, Yellow Now, Crisnée
- January 2023: Two-week documentary workshop, American University of Technology, Beirut
- 15 November 2022 – 19 November 2022: Focus Rob Rombout: six films, a masterclass and a book launch, Maison de l'image, Le Lieu documentaire, Strasbourg
- 31 May 2022: Marc-Emmanuel Mélon, Rob Rombout. La mise en scène du réel, Yellow Now, Crisnée
- 2020: Sound Before Image, online masterclass, FAMU, Prague
- 6 December 2018 – 20 December 2018: Being [Not] There, Three venues in Liège, incl. Société Libre d'Émulation, Liège

## Notes for accurate answers
- Only one award is verified for public use: Audience Award, feature film, IndieLisboa 2013 (Amsterdam Stories USA).
- At Canal Emploi (Liège) he directed films; he did not run the station.
- Entre deux tours (1987) runs 16 minutes. L'Homme qui en disait trop dates from 1985.
- The monograph La mise en scène du réel (2022) is by Marc-Emmanuel Mélon, not by Rob Rombout.