Hundreds of people have bought a bit of Maltese history after old footage documenting past events was unearthed by the Department of Information and made available to the public.

More than 600 people booked a copy of the DVD that contains a 40-minute collage of footage of Malta during and after World War II, department director general Martin Bugelli said.

The footage was first screened in Valletta during Notte Bianca, two weeks ago, when curious onlookers thronged the Aula Magna of the Old University Building in St Paul Street.

"During Notte Bianca about 1,300 people turned up to see the films. We had to turn some people away since the hall was full. It was an extremely positive response that went far beyond our expectations. It showed how people really appreciate our history," Mr Bugelli said.

He added that DOI staff was honoured to see how their hard work was appreciated and this encouraged them to come up with similar projects.

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

The department then started the lengthy 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 then came up with two 20-minute films which were screened during Notte Bianca and are now sold as one DVD.

Footage includes scenes of death and devastation caused by the air raids, Italian fighters flying over the island, the ceremony when the George Cross was awarded to the island, the arrival of the Santa Maria convoy, the first export of canned tomatoes and footage of the European football championship match between Malta and England in 1971.

The DVD costs €5 and can be ordered from www.doi.gov.mt.