Synopsis

Pobby and Dingan live in Lightning Ridge, the opal capital of Australia. They are friends with Kellyanne Williamson, the daughter of miner Rex Williamson and his wife Annie. Problem is, only Kellyanne can see them. That is because Pobby and Dingan are imaginary. Kellyanne's totally embarressed brother Ashmol, thinks his sister should grow up and stop being a fruit-loop. Until the day when Pobby and Dingan disappear. Kellyanne is heartbroken. To make matters worse Pobby and Dingan's diappearance coincides with accusations that Ashmol's father is a 'ratter', the worst sin an opal miner can commit. As grief-stricken Kellyanne's health deteriorates, Ashmol recruits the whole town in the search for Pobby and Dingan. With his father before the court for 'ratting', Ashmol finally comes to a realization that only he can find Pobby and Dingan, but only if he, like Kellyanne, believes they are real.

What The Critics Say

"D.P. Robert Humphreys, who also shot "Somersault", draws some plush images of Coober Pedy, known as ‘the opal capitol of the world.’ Cattaneo works with a talented cast: Colosimo and Jacqueline McKenzie are both convincing as the parents.. Both of the central child performances are also solid – especially ten year old Byers, whose wide-eyed and emotionally restless characterisation of a young boy wading through tough familial circumstance is an auspicious acting debut and points to a bright career ahead." Luke Buckmaster INFILM "Meticulously researched and thoughtfully created, the film successfully centres around childish themes without becoming schmaltzy, testament to a lack of American involvement. By the closing credits, the audience is left feeling that if you believe in something strongly enough, sometimes that makes it more real than being true. 4 STARS." Charles Brewer NEWS.COM.AU "A touching story about dreams - both imaginary and real, "Opal Dream" explores the multi-faceted nature of something precious. Peter Cattaneo directs this cinematic tale whose remote Coober Pedy setting is worlds away from Sheffield in his earlier award-winning film, The Full Monty. The heart of Australia's desert has been captured many times on film, but the chalky, arid landscape takes us into a world that feels fresh." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

"Opal Dream has a strong Australian feel, created not only by the distinctive scenery of Lightning Ridge but also by the charac­ters that inhabit the town, including the Williamson family themselves. The ever-reliable Colosimo and McKenzie are as good as ever, and Byers is particularly strong as the mature-beyond-his-years Ashmol. The film is directed by UK director Peter Cattaneo, and has the same close community/feel good quality to it as one of his most notable previous films, 1997’s The Full Monty (minus the striptease!). A movie for the whole family, Opal Dream features a clear message of how families and communities can support each other. 4 STARS." SALVATION ARMY- WAR CRY "The children, both of them first-time actors, prove consistently believable in their roles. Adding to the film is the cinematography by Robert Humphreys ("Somersault"). His camera takes in the moon-like landscapes of the Coober Pedy area with enthusiasm." Des Partridge QLD COURIER MAIL "It's a film full of good intentions. It just has a strange way of expressing them. Cattaneo says it's a fable, and like so many children's stories it's out to praise the power of the imagination as Rex's fellow miners and their families gradually soften in the face of his attempts to understand his daughter and her immersion in the world of her invisible friends." Sandra Hall SYNDNEY MORNING HERALD

The Inside Story "I had read Ben Rice’s novel ‘Pobby and Dingan’ about four years ago and I loved the story," says two time Academy Award nominee and "Opal Dream" director Peter Cattaneo. "I found it very moving and very funny. It dealt with universal themes of belief and dreams in a wonderfully original and charming way. So I was determined to make the film from that point on." Cattaneo's first task was to convince award winning writer Ben Rice that he could turn the book into a film. "I met Ben persuaded him that I was the right man to turn his book into a film! I collaborated with him from that point on in writing the script. It always takes a while to develop these things and it was in fact four years exactly from when I read the book to when I made the film." With Rice onboard, Cattaneo needed to do some research, after all as he said, "I didn’t know anything about opal mining before I read the book." So where did he head for? "I started my research on-line, looking at Lightning Ridge and Coober Pedy, both opal mining towns in Australia," he says. "I went on a recce and met some of the miners in Lightning Ridge where the book is set. I ended up shooting in Coober Pedy because it offered me more dynamic visuals." Having noticed, as any savvy South Australian would, that what is seen on the screen is obviously the opal mining town of Coober Pedy, it begs the question, "why shoot at another location instead of the book's original setting?" "The book is full of descriptions of a barren, arid landscape as Ben wrote it having visited Lightning Ridge during a drought. When I went to Lightning Ridge I was surprised to find green, fertile pasture land with the odd opal mine scattered around," he revealled. "Then I went to Coober Pedy and saw the extraordinary geology and I knew it was definitely the right place to make the film." And did her get the Opal bug? It seems so. "Down a mine in Lightning Ridge I found myself chipping away, hoping to find something. You get the bug straight away," Cattaneo notes. "It’s an amazingly vertiginous thing going down the tunnel into the darkness then. When you get to the bottom, you feel the terrible weight of all this earth on top of you. And then you start chipping away and you think ‘if I just went one little chip further I might find something’ and then you hear a scrape. All the miners stop when they hear this scrape of the potch and they all come scuttling over, but usually it’s just potch which is the milky stone which is not opalised. I found it very hard to leave. I just kept chipping away and chipping away." How was it working with an Australian crew far from home? "The crews were terrific in Australia and very friendly. It was great to work with people I didn’t know who were so open and so welcoming. And they really worked hard, with a 'can-do' attitude that I just love being around. It was also marvellous to shoot somewhere where everywhere I looked there was a fantastic image; where the landscape was so striking and the desert light was so pure. We shot a lot of exteriors at the end of the day and the beginning of the day. You get this low desert light which is quite amazing. And the town itself was very visual, a one horse town that was like a time warp with a Drive-in. It made a really nice change for me to not be in some grey, English supermarket car park, trying to make it look cinematic, which I’ve been doing for years." But what about shooting a film with imaginary friends in it. Isn't that a bit wierd? "I read a great book by Marjorie Taylor about children who have imaginary friends. I think there’s a misconception that only lonely, troubled children have imaginary friends. The book points out that in fact all sorts of children have imaginary friends; they can be really creative, imaginative kids or they can be not very creative at all; they can be only children or the oldest of five or the middle of three; they can be lonely or quite sociable," Cattaneo says adding, "there aren’t any rules." Did he have an idea of what the children looked like then? "In the book there are wonderful descriptions of Pobby and Dingan, of Pobby speaking English or whistling to be understood, and having a wooden leg; and of Dingan’s hair cut. Many things are mentioned in the book. But it was always going to be a big challenge; how do I shoot people who don’t exist?" So how did he solve the problem? "I did have a very strong visual image in my mind of what they would look like, and I when I re-visited the classic film "Harvey" the portrait of Jimmy Stewart and his rabbit gave me the idea for a scene where Kellyanne draws her imaginary friends; which isn’t in the book. We sent descriptions of Pobby and Dingan to the school in Coober Pedy and had lots of children draw their impressions. I chose what I thought were the best and they became the images of Pobby and Dingan we see in the film." One question I wanted answered was how did they find unknown newcomers Sapphire Boyce and Christian Byers. "The casting process was long and arduous as I knew the film would stand or fall on the casting of the two kids. The casting director met children, advertised in papers, on radio and went to schools, youth clubs all across Australia," he revealed. "She then sent me hundreds of tapes. Sapphire was on one of those early tapes and she just leapt out. I knew that Kellyanne had to have a frail, otherworldly waiflike quality about her and Sapphire just seemed right straight away. She clearly had this incredibly vivid imagination and when she started talking about her own imaginary friends on the tape I really did think that she might be the one. I then met with her and probably twenty other girls that I’d seen on tape and she was clearly way ahead of the rest so I cast her pretty much straight away, subject in my mind to finding the boy and finding the parents." That took some time, didn't it? "Finding Christian was a great relief because we found him very late in the process, and I think he’s absolutely fantastic. His aunt saw an ad in a paper in Sydney and he’d just played Romeo in his school play, so his aunt thought he should try for the film. When we put him together with Sapphire the chemistry was great. Both of them were really lovely and immersed themselves totally into their roles." And the adult parents? "I’d seen Vince in "Lantana" which is a very classy film and Vince was terrific in it," Cattaneo said. "He’s a real bloke, you really can believe that he’d go out and pick up a big drill and actually go mining. He’s also got a great humanity and warmth to him, and a boyish charm which was great for Rex. So Vince fitted perfectly. And I was very pleased to find that he and Christian really did look like father and son." And the delightful Jacqueline McKenzie? "I was looking for someone unusual to play Annie, who would look and feel out of place in the middle of the outback in that dusty, rocky terrain. And someone who, as Kellyanne’s mother, would probably share a bit of that dreamlike shyness. There’s something wonderfully fragile and sensitive about Jacquie’s face that really drew me in. There’s a slight other-worldy thing about her as well. When I met her she was very enthusiastic about the script and I was thrilled to cast her." Not a bad wrap, coming from a two time Academy Award nominee. There's no doubt, some people who have no imagination or a supressed childhood won't enjoy "Opal Dream", but for those parents who can still recall those wonderous childhood years, "Opal Dream" will be a must. Oh, and don't forget to take the kids with you. The Verdict "Adapted from the award winning novel by Ben Rice, "Opal Dream" is a film that will sit comfortably with both parents and children alike. Like an opal, this is a little gem containing humour, drama and themes everyone can relate to. Set in the harsh outback, featuring a good cast and a 'feel good' ending "Opal Dream" is the ideal film for family togetherness. Easy to recommend. 4 STARS." About The Cast "OPAL DREAM" stars .......
Vince Colosimo
Vince Colosimo has been seen in three back to back internationally acclaimed features: "Chopper", "Lantana" and "Walking on Water". He won an AFI Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Lantana" and was nominated as Best Actor for his role in" Walking On Water". He also won the Sydney Film Critics Circle Best Actor Award for this role. Vince has also appeared in five episodes of the hit television drama, The Practice as well as a guest appearance on Without A Trace. Other credits include "Ain’t Got No Jazz"; "Take Away"; "The Nuggett" and "The Hard Word".
Jacqueline McKenzie
Jacqueline McKenzie is a graduate of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art. She made her screen debut in "Romper Stomper", starring opposite Russell Crowe. Her portrayal of the troubled Gabe in the film was the first of many award-winning performances. Her film credits include: "The Human Touch", "Peaches", "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood", "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "Freak Weather" and "Eisenstein". She appeared in "Deep Blue Sea" with Samuel L Jackson, and starred in "Mr Reliable", "Under the Lighthouse Dancing", and "Angel Baby", (winning the AFI "Best Actress" award in Australia as well as awards at numerous international film festivals). McKenzie has made numerous appearances on television including the Showtime movie "On The Beach", co-starring with Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown and Armand Assante. On stage, McKenzie received rave reviews for her performances as Catherine in David Auburn’s "Proof" at the Sydney Opera House and as Rita in the Williamstown Theatre Festival (USA) production of "Educating Rita", starring opposite Edward Hermann and directed by Bruce Paltrow. She appeared in the highly regarded Sydney Theatre Company production of "The White Devil" at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music and, Theatre de Complicite’s production of "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" with Al Pacino, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Billy Crudup and Paul Giamatti.
Christian Byers
Since the age of two, ten year-old Christian Byers has been very keen to act and although he hasn’t undertaken any professional work, he’s taken some acting classes, including a course at National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Possessing intensity beyond his years, Christian is incredibly bright, focused and determined. Christian is from Sydney and has a younger brother.
Sapphire Boyce
"Wildly imaginative" is just one term used to describe Sydney’s Sapphire Boyce. The irrepressible ten-year old decided to audition for the role of Kellyanne after seeing the details in her school’s newsletter and even took her own imaginary friend along with her!! Sapphire has no previous acting experience, although she writes and performs in her own plays with her sister!
Crew Bytes "OPAL DREAM" was .......
directed by Royal College Of Arts graduate Peter Cattaneo ["The Full Monty" and "Lucky Break"]; screenplay by Phil Traill ["Hiccup", "Flipped", "Post" and "Dangle"]; original story by Somerset Maugham Award winner Ben Rice ["Fuel" and "Look at Me I'm Beautiful"]; cinematography by Robert Humphreys ["The Diplomat", "Mullet", "Walking On Water" and "Somersault"]; costume design by Ruth De la Lande ["The Club", ""Australian Rules", "Sally Marshall Is Not an Alien" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence"]; edited by Academy Award and Two Time BAFTA Award winner Jim Clark ["The Killing Fields", "Memphis Belle", "Copycat", "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" and "Vera Drake"] with production design by Elizabeth Mary Moore ["Flying Over Mother", "Russian Doll", "Mullet" and "A Man's Gotta Do"]. Run Time 85 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Icon Film Distribution - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved