Opal Dream

Some movies slip through the grinding gears of the industry. If you are lucky, you will stumble across this timeless, near-perfect glimpse of childhood innocence and its power to improve the world of adults.

Against the harsh backdrop of subsistence opal mining in the arid Aussie desert, a life dominated by the dreams of greedy men and their incessant paranoias and rivalries, a little girl nurtures the friendship of two imaginary beings, Pobby and Dingan. When Pobby and Dingan go missing on Boxing Day evening, the whole community is drawn into an imaginative, lilting drama.

How this film didn't win Oscars for it's two childhood stars is a reassuring confirmation that artistic independence and merit still exist, despite the egocentric shenanigans of the star-system and high-end production companies.