"Save our national film heritage" is the impassioned plea of film director Mario Philip Azzopardi to the public, the government, the media and private entities.
"There are many important Maltese films and documentaries, still on 8mm or 16mm format, that will soon rot if they are not rescued in time."
Mr Azzopardi was speaking after a screening of his 1972 film Il-Gagga, which has been released as part of the ninth edition of the EU Film Festival.
Filmed over 35 years ago, Il-Gagga, based on Frans Sammut's 1968 novel, is a study of the psyche of a young man during the turbulent early 1960s.
The 8mm film was transferred to digital format in California and enhanced by Studio 7 Productions. English sub-titles were added.
Joe Debono, managing director of Studio 7, joined Mr Azzopardi in his exhortations.
"There are many small gems of Maltese cinematography locked away in some damp cellar."
He called on the Department of Information, that had its own film unit between the 1960s and 1970s, and which "was full of talented people who were responsible for some of the best documentaries produced locally", to restore these works.
These include a documentary on Dun Gorg Preca, called Dun Gorg miet, one on the children's game Il-passju, another about Ninu Cremona and several featuring the independence celebrations.
Mr Debono highlighted two other films, Folk Invasion and a 1950s film, Nofs Lira Inqas, the whereabouts of which are unknown.
He referred to a bank manager, a "Vella Gera", who was an amateur filmmaker whose works are nowhere to be found.
"Even if it's brittle, a film can be digitised. Do not let it all go to waste. It would be a national loss, a national tragedy!" Mr Azzopardi said in his imposing tone.
He recalled the Maltese film pioneer and master, Cecil Satariano, whose works Guzeppi, Katarin and On the Beach among others won international accolades and are seminal records of Maltese social life.
As far as he knows, these films have been transferred to tape, but are not available on DVD.
"Cecil was my inspiration, my teacher. I was his assistant in his most important movies, especially in Guzeppi... He taught me the importance of close-ups. He understood the medium perfectly."
Mr Azzopardi was only 21 when he came up with the idea of filming Il-Gagga together with R.U.S.C.A. (Royal University Students Council Association).
He was looking for subject matter when he came across Mr Sammut's work, "a milestone in Maltese literature", as he calls it, and he was impressed.
Translating the intricate novel into film cost Mr Azzopardi - who wrote the script together with Mr Sammut and directed the film - his BA degree because he failed his exams in order to finish this laborious task.
The film was not released on the silver screen back then but rumours of its controversial content reached the far corners of the island.
Mr Azzopardi remembers his mother going to Mass in Hamrun, some time after the film was completed, and the homily was directed against the film.