[Tibor Zoltan Koller Home Movies: Reel 11]

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 short film, we see scenes of Melbourne, Victoria, including landmark buildings such as Flinders Street Station and St Patrick’s Cathedral. Of particular note are the wide clear streets and the 1950s style cars.

This film was made on Standard 8mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:02:00 views across to Melbourne city from the south bank of the river
00:01:05:00 rowers on the Yarra River
00:01:22:00 Flinders Street Station with neon lettering on the exterior
00:01:39:00 Preston Motors Holden building
00:01:53:00 St Patrick’s Cathedral
00:02:54:00 views from a car with two riders on horseback alongside