MELBOURNE, Australia -- The fundamental sweetness that made director Peter Cattaneo's "The Full Monty" one of the sleeper hits of the 1990s translates well to his latest venture, the whimsical family drama "Opal Dream." There are no male strippers - heaven forbid! - but this is another tale about dreamers, transplanted to the Australian opal-mining hub of Coober Pedy, where the frenzied quest for the rainbow-colored gemstones creates a modern-day gold rush atmosphere.

The story about a little girl's search for her lost imaginary friends crosses cultural borders. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival's Kinderfilmfest, and the enthusiastic response from tykes in Europe bodes well for its theatrical release next month in Australia and in the U.S. later in the year. Parents, too, will welcome the innocent charm missing from some of Hollywood's more cynical exercises in kid-friendly entertainment.

This British-Australian production is a fanciful wisp of a film that feels slight at times. It's based on the slender novella "Pobby and Dingan," by Ben Rice, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Yet it winds up making some keen observations on the power of imagination.

Nine-year-old loner Kellyanne Williamson (Sapphire Boyce, looking awkward in her first acting role) has only two playmates. Their names are Pobby and Dingan, they like lollipops, and they're invisible to everybody else.

When her opal miner dad, Rex (Vince Colosimo), takes her pals along to the mine with him one day and accidentally leaves them behind, Kellyanne is convinced they are dead and insists he go back and look for them.

While humoring his daughter, Rex is caught "ratting" -- trespassing on a rival miner's claim -- which is considered the worst sort of crime among the obsessively territorial prospectors. The Williamsons are treated like pariahs as the story makes the rounds, and the grief-stricken Kellyanne takes to her bed.

These events are narrated by Ashmol (a terrific Christian Byers), a spunky little fellow who is initially irritated by his kid sister's make-believe games but comes to at least believe in her belief. He embarks on a slightly surreal quest to find Kellyanne's nonexistent friends, ultimately firing the imagination of a town.

Cinematographer Robert Humphreys ("Somersault") and designer Elizabeth Mary Moore have created a delightful setting that is realistically hot, dusty and stark but, as befits the fantastical nature of this Outback fable, spangled with quirky details.