Robbe Van Hert

Flemish film legend Robbe De Hert (1942-2020) has passed away

De Flem Blog

By Dave

August 24, 2020 

Flemish director Robbe De Hert (77) passed away today, surrounded by his close family and friends. This is reported by Lou De Hert, his son and Stan De Hert, his brother and Gil Knevels and Ida Dequeecker, his intimate friends. Robbe De Hert was a pioneer of Flemish film. He was co-founder (in 1966) and the driving force behind Fugitive Cinema, the legendary Antwerp videographers collective.

With successful feature films such as De Witte (1980) , the Gaston Bergmans and Leo Martin film Beagle Boys (1984) , Blueberry Hill (1989) for which he won the Joseph Plateau Awards for Best Director and Glues / Het Been (2000) he has the Flemish film has been given the right to exist again and again. In numerous documentaries such as Le Filet Américain, Janssen & Janssens, a film is screened and recently Hollywood on the Scheldt , he gave his unvarnished opinion about man and society and the history of Flemish film .

Robbe De Hert was also a pivotal figure in the King Kong, the cultural center that played a central role in the progressive social and cultural life in Antwerp between 1972 and 1982. Film colleagues Jan Verheyen, Erik Van Looy and Michaël Pas already gave an initial reaction to his departure. For example, Jan Verheyen said: “Robbe has always been called an 'enfant terrible', but he was not by choice but by necessity. In those fascinating but difficult pioneering years of Flemish film, you had to be difficult to be heard. Robbe was an 'enfant terrible' so that the next generations did not have to be. And above all else, he was an incredible movie buff who breathed cinema; he was our Monsieur Cinema.”

Erik Van Looy also responded: “Robbe was at the same time a great and obsessed filmmaker and one of the most unique personalities of his time. Often witty, always unruly, never banal. I think we can say that he has lived at least 10 lives. It could have been 10 more. If heaven exists, they'd better get a director's chair there quickly and prepare for a fierce storm, because Robbe always remained himself and will always remain himself. I hope we will miss him for a very long time.”

For Michaël Pas, “Robbe De Hert was a folk hero. Someone who made himself. Without education, without resources with nothing but talent and stubbornness. In this way he worked on the path of Flemish film, and created opportunities for those who came after him.

As a boy of twelve I played in Robbes De Witte van Sichem. I was deeply impressed by Robbe himself, his inspiration, his energy and his drive. After my drama school I was very proud to play the part of Robbe in Blueberry Hill. The trust he has placed in me there has propelled my entire career as an actor. I owe a lot to Robbe. Thank you, big bear!”

Because of COVID 19, Robbe's farewell takes place in an intimate circle. In 2021, family and friends plan a commemoration of Robbe and the burial of his ashes in the courtyard of the Schoonselhof.

Van HERT, Robbe (Robin van Hert)

Born: 9/20/1942 in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, UK

Died: 8/24/2020, Flanders, Belgium

Robbe Van Hert’s western – producer, director, writer:

An Old Story - 1964