[Tibor Zoltan Koller Home Movies: Reel 10]

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.

In this film, we see a trip to Beechworth in 1969 for the ‘Gemboree’, a national festival organised by the lapidary clubs of Australia. The first ‘Gemboree’ was held in 1965 as a gathering of lapidaries to showcase gemstones and minerals and has continued annually since. The film opens with elaborate title cards setting up the film, which is credited to both Tibor and wife Merna Koller. The film contains footage of country Victoria and the festival, including great shots of cars, caravans and tents of the era. It also shows interesting footage of gemstones on display.

This film was made on Super 8mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:02:00 title card ‘Combined Lapidary Clubs of Victoria presents’, ‘1969 Gemboree Beechworth’
00:00:27:00 ‘Script & Narration: John Royle’
00:00:59:00 ‘Compiled & Filmed by TZ & MM Koller’
00:01:05:00 a man exits a wooden shed in the bush
00:01:48:00 panning for gold in the river
00:02:31:00 signpost ‘Woolshed Falls’
00:03:05:00 children panning for gold
00:04:11:00 sausages cooking on a hot plate
00:04:30:00 ‘Welcome to Beechworth’ road sign, followed by views around the town
00:06:14:00 cars driving down the main street
00:06:24:00 a yellow banner stretched across the road reads ‘Dulux Paints Welcomes You to Gemboree ‘69, National Lapidary Festival’
00:07:44:00 handmade signs for various lapidary clubs and some great examples of caravans and cars of the era
00:09:14:00 crowds of people at the festival
00:12:21:00 1950s style cars
00:13:01:00 a large group of people in the bush prospecting
00:14:09:00 toddler in a play pen
00:14:56:00 a man grinding a gemstone on a grinding wheel
00:15:39:00 ‘Exhibition Entries This Way’ followed by prize winners of the Gemboree on display
00:18:32:00 gemstones on display in cabinets
00:20:18:00 a bonfire