Teaching
Rob taught documentary directing at Sint-Lukas in Brussels, now LUCA School of Arts, from 1988 to 2018. He was a founding member of the DocNomads master and its course director in Brussels, 2012–2019, ran a programme at the Hanoi film school for ten years, and has given workshops from Beirut to Prague, São Paulo and Lisbon.
Rob teaches the way he works. Students write the commentary of their film before they shoot, record it in their own voice and accent, and listen to it in the dark before they look at a single image. The form comes first; the camera comes to it. As described in Mélon 2022, p. 33.
Teaching is also what has kept his films free: he has said he likes making films but does not want to depend on them for a living. Mélon 2022, p. 244.
Subjects
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Sound Before Image
A practical method Rob developed over decades of teaching: participants record and edit the sound of a situation first, then decide what the camera must see. It sharpens listening, staging and editing at once.
Given at Online masterclass at FAMU Prague (2020); a long-standing exercise in the DocNomads programme
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The Staged Real · La mise en scène du réel
A lecture with film extracts on how a documentary is built rather than found: research, writing, staging, waiting. Based on Rob's films and on Marc-Emmanuel Mélon's monograph.
Given at Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon (2025); Focus Rob Rombout, Strasbourg (2022)
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Portraits on the road
Over two afternoons: film fragments and photographs, then work on location. About the maker's own way of looking, not about equipment.
Given at Koppelkerk, Bredevoort (November 2025)
He teaches in English, French and Dutch.
Schools, festivals and cultural institutions can invite Rob for a lecture, a workshop or a longer course. Write with the audience, the length and the dates you have in mind.
Write to RobWhere he has taught
- Sint-Lukas / LUCA School of Arts, BrusselsAtelier supervisor in documentary directing, 1988–2018
- Université Paris 8Teacher, 1989–1999
- INSAS, BrusselsTeacher, 1989–1995
- IHECS, BrusselsTeacher, 1992–1993 · from Rob’s CV
- RITCS, BrusselsDocumentary, third-year bachelor, 1996–2011
- Université Marc Bloch, StrasbourgDocumentary, DESS programme, 2000–2002
- Louisiana State University, Baton RougeWorkshop, 2006
- SKDA, Hanoi (for INSAS)Course director of a joint programme, two sessions a year, 2010–2020
- DocNomads (Erasmus Mundus joint master)Founding member; course director in Brussels, 2012–2019
- FAMU, PragueOnline masterclass, 2020
- ESTC, LisbonTeacher · from Rob’s CV
- ESAP, PortoPostgraduate teaching, 2020–2021 · from Rob’s CV
- ZeLIG School for Documentary, BolzanoTeacher, 2021–2022 · from Rob’s CV
- American University of Technology, BeirutWorkshops, most recently 2023
- Universidade Lusófona, LisbonGuest lecturer
Lectures and workshops
- 27 April – 8 May 2026 Workshop Euro CineLab Mongolia: online short-film lab, with Xavier Solano European Film Festival Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, online
- 22 – 24 November 2025 Masterclass Photography masterclasses in Kalamata and Tripoli Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival, Kalamata
- 15 – 16 November 2025 Masterclass Portrait photography masterclass Koppelkerk, Bredevoort
- 25 September 2025 Lecture Open lecture: the mise en scène of reality and the teaching of documentary, followed by DocNomads films Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon Programme ↗
- 20 March 2024 Masterclass Masterclass: The Staging of Reality in Documentary Cinema, with Angelos Stavros Rallis Festival Millenium, Centre Culturel Bruegel, Brussels
- October 2023 Workshop Documentary workshop Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival, Kalamata
- 19 May 2023 Workshop Documentary workshop CulturCosta, Quito and Manta
- March 2023 Lecture Seminar for master’s students UTAD, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real
- 30 January – 10 February 2023 Workshop Two-week documentary workshop American University of Technology, Beirut
- 24 October 2022 Lecture Making Documentary Films in the Francophone World Louisiana State University, Department of French Studies, Baton Rouge
- 14 October 2022 Masterclass Masterclass Clube de Cinema da Ribeira Grande, Ribeira Grande
- 8 April 2022 Masterclass Masterclass for the Digital Arts master’s programme Athens School of Fine Arts, with the Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival, Athens
- 26 September – 1 October 2021 Workshop Flaherty Revisited, the first Flaherty Think Tank, set up with John Burgan Galway and Inis Mór, Aran Islands
- 29 June 2021 Workshop Supervision of a graduation film Zelig, School for Documentary, Bolzano
- June 2021 Workshop Documentary workshop before the festival, with students of the University of the Peloponnese Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival, Kalamata
- 20 March 2021 Lecture Online lecture: intercultural dialogue and public diplomacy online
- 15 – 16 March 2021 Masterclass Two online masterclasses: The Signature of the Filmmaker and Directing Reality MemoryLab, Brussels, online
- November 2020 Lecture Lecture on Robert van Gulik Hong Kong
- 29 October 2020 Masterclass Sound Before Image, online masterclass FAMU, Prague
- 11 May 2020 Workshop Teaching Zelig, School for Documentary, Bolzano
- May 2020 Masterclass Masterclass Imagine Euro Tolerance Festival, Baku
- 27 November 2019 Lecture Lecture Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
- 15 – 20 November 2019 Workshop Documentary workshop with students of Université Lumière Lyon 2 and refugees: two short films, Dévisage and EnVisage Maison du livre, de l’image et du son (MLIS), Villeurbanne
- 4 – 7 November 2019 Workshop Workshop and two masterclasses Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, FANTAZIA festival, Baku
- 7 – 11 October 2019 Workshop One-week documentary workshop Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema (SKDA), Hanoi
- 5 October 2019 Lecture Lecture Studio national du film documentaire et scientifique, Hanoi
- 2 May 2019 Masterclass Masterclass Imagine Euro Tolerance Festival, Baku
- 17 – 22 February 2019 Workshop Documentary workshop: So Close, So Far American University of Technology, Beirut
- 31 January 2019 Lecture Lecture on Dutch documentary: Ivens, Haanstra, van der Keuken P’tit Ciné, Brussels
- January 2019 Workshop Documentary seminar Creative Documentary Center of Kalamata, Kalamata
- November 2018 Workshop Teaching Griffith University, Brisbane
- 17 October 2018 Workshop Workshop with DocNomads students Liège
- 9 July 2018 Workshop Summer school, with DocNomads ALBA, Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Beirut
- 7 – 13 May 2018 Workshop Documentary workshop ISMA, Cotonou
- June 2017 Lecture Lectures Beijing
- 8 December 2016 Lecture Talk on Canal Emploi (1977–1989), with Agnès Lejeune and Jean-Claude Riga Pianofabriek, Coupe Circuit festival (GSARA and ZIN TV), Brussels L'Homme qui en disait trop
- 29 September 2016
- May 2016 Workshop Documentary workshop American University of Technology, Beirut
- April 2016 Workshop Documentary workshop ALBA, Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Beirut and Mykonos
- March 2016 Workshop Teaching Griffith University, Brisbane
- 26 January 2016 Lecture Lecture RITCS, Brussels
- October 2015
- 12 September 2015 Masterclass Masterclass DOC+ Documentary Workshop, Taipei
- August 2015 Lecture Lecture AFDA, with DocNomads, Johannesburg
- February 2015 Workshop Documentary workshop Beirut
- 29 – 30 January 2015 Masterclass Amsterdam Stories USA, screening and masterclass with Rogier van Eck, with Heure Exquise! Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, Tourcoing Amsterdam Stories USA
- 30 November 2013 Lecture Lecture on Robert van Gulik Médiathèque Ducarin, Comines
- 8 April 2013 Lecture Lecture on Robert van Gulik Robert van Gulik Now!, Shanghai
- 19 January 2013 Masterclass Masterclass on Amsterdam Stories USA, with Rogier van Eck CINEMATEK, Brussels Amsterdam Stories USA
- 10 November 2012 Lecture Lecture on Robert van Gulik Shanghai
- November 2012 Workshop Documentary workshop RIOS, Vila Real
- 30 January – 10 February 2012 Workshop Documentary workshop American University of Technology, Beirut
- January 2012 Masterclass Masterclass ESTC, Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Lisbon
- 3 – 4 June 2011 Masterclass Masterclass VGIK, Moscow
- 15 May 2011 Workshop Documentary workshop Lebanese American University (LAU), Beirut
- May 2011 Workshop Documentary workshop Royal Film Commission, Amman
- May 2011 Masterclass Masterclass ESAP, Porto
- January 2011 Masterclass Masterclass ESTC, Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Lisbon
- November 2010 Workshop Documentary workshop RIOS, Vila Real
- October 2010 Masterclass Masterclass Beijing Film Academy, Beijing
- May 2010 Workshop Documentary workshop Netherlands Institute for Arab Studies, Damascus
- October 2009 Lecture Lecture Médiathèque, Toulouse
- 4 November 2008 Masterclass Masterclass: Documentary Film & Filmmaker Beijing Film Academy, Department of Directing, Beijing
- 17 – 23 October 2008 Lecture Lectures and screenings, with Robert Cahen Alliance Française, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing
- October 2007 Lecture Lecture Médiathèque, Toulouse
- October 2007 Workshop Documentary workshop Flahertiana, Perm
- May 2007 Workshop Documentary workshop ESAP, MIFEC, Porto
- 22 May 2006 Lecture Lecture Seminário A Escrita do Real, Universidade do Minho, Braga
- April 2006 Workshop Documentary workshop Syracuse University, Syracuse
- 23 March 2006 Lecture Lecture: the construction of the real Sinédoques, Universidade do Porto, Porto
- March 2006 Lecture Lecture Videoteca Municipal de Braga, Braga
- 2006 Workshop Documentary workshop Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
- 13 – 18 October 2005 Workshop Documentary workshop, with Robert Cahen Yunnan University, Department of Visual Anthropology, Kunming
- September 2005 Workshop Documentary workshop Syracuse University, Strasbourg
- 16 – 19 November 2004 Workshop Documentary workshop Maison du livre, de l’image et du son (MLIS), Villeurbanne
- September 2004 Lecture Lectures and screenings, with Robert Cahen Nanjing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
- 22 July 2003 Lecture Guest lectures on board, on filming at sea Queen Elizabeth 2
- May 2003 Workshop Documentary workshop Les Yeux de l’Ouïe, Nancy
- November 2002 Lecture Lecture Mediaterra, Athens
- September 2001 Workshop Documentary workshop Universidade do Minho, Braga
- February 2001 Workshop Documentary workshop Plein Ciel
- 21 April 2000 Lecture Lecture Eiga Bigakko film school, Tokyo
- November 1999 Lecture Lecture Itaú Cultural, São Paulo
- October 1999 Workshop Documentary workshop Ovar
- November 1997 Workshop Documentary workshop Vidéographe, Montreal
- 1997 Lecture Lecture STUC, Leuven
- September 1996 – 1998 Workshop Documentary workshops Heure Exquise!, Lille
- 10 August 1996 Workshop Documentary workshop Festival de Inverno da UFMG, Ouro Preto
- November 1995 Workshop Documentary workshop Belo Horizonte
- April 1994 Workshop Documentary workshop Belomonte Artes Filmes
- 21 March 1994 Lecture Lecture AGFA, Antwerp
- 19 November 1993 Workshop Documentary workshop 2.as Jornadas de Arte Contemporânea, Porto
- 9 April 1993 Lecture Lecture The Hague
- April 1992 Workshop Documentary workshop Universidade do Minho, Braga