Giorgio Mangiamele initially studied fine arts in Catania. Following the end of World War II he moved to Rome to study journalism, and later joined the police force where he learnt about filmmaking while working in the surveillance unit of the Polizia Scientifica. In 1953, the year after he immigrated to Australia, he made his first full feature film, Il Contratto (The Contract), in Melbourne. Drawing on his own experiences the film tells of five young Italian men who emigrate to Australia on a two-year work contract.
Mangiamele's later films are Unwanted (1955) The Brothers (1958) The Spag (1960), Ninety Nine Per Cent (1963), Boys in the Age of Machines (1964), Clay (1965), Beyond Reason (1970), Papua New Guinea Enters the Silk World (1979 ), The Living Museum (1980), South Pacific Festival of the Arts (1980), The Caring Crocodile (1981), and Sapos (1982). Mangiamele also worked with director Tim Burstall XH)(q.v.) shooting Burstall's acclaimed puppet series, Sebastian the Fox (1962-1963) and two short documentaries, one on on Matcham Skipper (The Crucifixion: Bas Reliefs in Silver by Matcham Skipper) and one on Gil Jamieson (On Three Moon Creek: Australian Paintings by Gil Jamieson , 1963).
Between 1979 and 1982, Mangiamele was contracted by the Papua New Guinea Government (Prime Minister's Department) to make a series of five films. This in turn led to the establishment of the PNG Film Unit. During the remainder of the 1980s and up until his death, he worked on a number of scripts, including one called Sogeri Road. Unfortunately, none have ever been produced.
Raffaele Lampugnani has said of the filmmaker, 'Giorgio Mangiamele is regarded as the most significant first generation Italo-Australian filmmaker of the post-war period. Yet, in spite of his "pioneering efforts" and his attempts to be accepted into Australian mainstream cinema by adopting English dialogue and Australian characters in many of his films, he remained to an extent marginalised as an "ethnic" filmmaker, achieving recognition and some government financial support only towards the end of his life' ('Comedy and Humour', 2004).
Although Mangiamele has never achieved the level of recognition his career and influence he deserves, he was presented with several wards during the early 1960s. In 1962, he received an Honourable Mention at the Australian Film Awards Competition (for The Spag), and the following year another Honorable Mention for Ninety Nine Per Cent (1963). In 1965, he was presented with three awards at the Australian Film Awards Competition for his film Clay (Silver Award, Silver Medallion and Kodak Silver Trophy). Mangiamele died in 2001 after having spent many years suffering from motor-neuron disease.
