[Tibor Zoltan Koller Home Movies: Reel 4]

Tibor Zoltan Koller (1920-1975) was an amateur filmmaker who made home movies in Australia and overseas from the 1940s to the early 1970s. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Tibor lived in Melbourne, Victoria with his family. His wife Merna Koller was a frequent collaborator on these films, showing a shared interest in filmmaking.

Tibor captured suburban family life in Melbourne, including family celebrations, urban scenes and regional holidays. Tibor was actively engaged in the lapidary society of Australia. Several of his films show opal fields and gemstone artisans at work, as well as the 1969 ‘Gemboree’ in Beechworth, Victoria, a national festival organised by the lapidary clubs of Australia. Tibor also travelled to Idar-Oberstein in Germany, historically known as a gemstone town, and to Japan.

The Tibor Zoltan Koller Home Movie Collection has been donated to ACMI by the filmmaker’s daughter Vicki Koller. The films were made on Standard 8mm and Super 8mm film.

This film contains great footage of a trip to Japan, including urban scenes, Japanese cars, visits to temples and socialising with Japanese locals.

This film was made on Super 8mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:02:00 aeroplanes on the tarmac
00:00:14:00 view from the plane as it takes off, including the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge
00:01:32:00 coastline from the plane
00:01:45:00 view from the plane, Bali International Airport Ngurah Rai
00:02:20:00 scenes in Japan
00:03:00:00 feeding the deer, probably at Nara
00:03:30:00 Tōdai-ji, Nara (temple complex)
00:04:05:00 Bishamonten statue, Tōdai-ji, Nara
00:04:45:00 in the forest and visiting temples
00:05:41:00 a cute Japanese toddler in pink overalls
00:07:35:00 driving through city streets, views from the window of a bus
00:08:55:00 groups of Japanese schoolchildren having their photo taken at a temple
00:11:17:00 a fish pond with a waterfall (Ninomaru Garden and pond, Nijo Castle, Kyoto)
00:11:35:00 people viewing didactic map of Nijo Castle complex, Kyoto
00:14:00:00 cable car on a busy city street
00:15:08:00 neon sign ‘Matsushita Electric’
00:17:53:00 orderly city streets filled with traffic
00:20:10:00 View of Mt Fuji
00:20:55:00 close-ups of group of Japanese friends at dinner, all laughing and pulling faces at the camera
00:22:43:00 bright neon billboards at night
00:24:00:00 Coca-Cola billboard
00:25:02:00 view of city buildings from a plane landing
00:26:00:00 views across the harbour of a city (possibly Hong Kong)
00:28:34:00 double decker cable cars covered in advertising