History reeled in

The hands of a starving nation wave to greet a food-bearing ship that slowly sails into the Grand Harbour in a scene many of us could only imagine until now.

Rediscovered war-time films capture the arrival of the Santa Maria convoy that ferried stocks of food and fuel to the shattered islands in August 1942.

Unearthed by the Department of Information, the black and white, silent footage forms part of a series of snapshots of Malta's history that will be shown tomorrow during Notte Bianca.

The department salvaged the films from archiving oblivion as staff sifted through the reels, containing films shot by former government cameramen along the years, to avoid them being deleted from national memory.

Two years ago, the films were retrieved from the department's Sa Maison stores. Their rusty metal casings were changed to durable plastic ones and they were stacked in a climate-controlled room in the DOI's Valletta offices.

The department then started the lengthy, continuous process of digitising each 16-millimetre reel using special equipment. This takes one digital snapshot per frame and lines up the images to convert them into high-resolution films stored on special DVDs, guaranteed to last about 300 years.

The DOI has come up with two 20-minute films to be screened tomorrow at the Aula Magna of the Old University Building in St Paul's Street, Valletta. The films will include subtitles, in English and Maltese, to explain the historical context of the footage.

The first consists of unique footage of Malta during World War II and includes a collage of scenes from the early 1940s. It covers Italy's declaration of war against Britain and France, on June 10, 1940, apart from previously unseen footage of death and devastation caused by the air raids.

During the war, news was disseminated through the Rediffusion (a cable radio network) or shown in cinemas before a feature film was projected. But scenes of death and destruction were not shown in order to keep people's morale high during those dark times.

Viewers will get to see Italian fighters flying over the island, legendary Maltese anti-aircraft gunners and victory kitchens, which provided food during the war.

The films also record the ceremony when the George Cross was awarded to honour the Maltese on April 15, 1942. One can also see The Times being printed on that historic day and paper boys collecting the stacks of paper before delivery.

Extraordinary scenes from August 13-15, 1942 show the arrival of the Santa Maria convoy that included the merchant ships Port Chalmers, Melbourne Star, Rochester Castle and the tanker Ohio sailing into Grand Harbour following an enemy submarine attack.

The second 20-minute film collage shows post-war images dating back to the 1960s. These include the first export of canned tomatoes to the UK by Gozitano, a cooperative of Gozitan farmers.

Other snapshots include footage from the 1962 carnival and that year's general election; unique scenes of the granting of Independence in 1964; the capital's old City Gate and the construction of the present entrance into Valletta; images from the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in November 1967 and footage of the European football championship match between Malta and England in 1971.

The films will be shown alternately every 30 minutes between 7 and 11.30 p.m. The public can also order copies of DVDs, containing the two 20-minute screenings, for €5.