Zwier Albertus "Alby" Mangels (born 16 November 1948) is an Australian adventurer and documentary filmmaker widely remembered for his World Safari adventure travel films (World Safari, World Safari II, and World Safari III).
Early life and education
Zwier Albertus Mangels was born in the Netherlands on 16 November 1948. His father Johannes (Jos) was a leather tanner. The family moved to Australia in 1955, where they settled in Mount Burr, South Australia. After about eighteen months his parents separated Their journey took them across four continents, travelling through 56 countries over six years. The film was produced entirelly in South Australia.
After arriving in London, Mangels took the film to the BBC, but they were not interested. Back in Australia, it was similarly rebuffed by the Australian Film Commission and the South Australian Film Corporation. He was going to start travelling again, but after one of his crew members was injured and needed treatment in Melbourne, he started screening a roughly-edited copy around schools, titled Happy Go Lucky Highway.
Andrew Ward suggested that he recruit a model called Judy Green, whom he has spotted on TV on Sale of the Century, for his next film, and they started filming World Safari II on Mer Island in the Torres Strait. However, in April 1983 they were all injured when their Jeep collided with a bus Green sustaining critical head injuries. After discharge from hospital, they flew back to Australia for treatment. Mangels took a year to recover, but Green did not rejoin him, as she had serious head injuries and needed to regain the ability to walk.