Golden moment as Richard receives his second Oscar

“GO RAIBH maith agat” were the first words uttered by Richard Baneham when accepting the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Richard received the second Oscar for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water, after winning a first back in 2010 for work on the first instalment of the franchise.

Michael and Noeleen Baneham, Richard’s parents, have expressed their immense pride in their son’s achievement following the awards ceremony on Sunday night.

“Fantastic win for Ballyfermot, Tallaght, Dublin, and Ireland, and the Baneham family,” Richard’s father Michael tells The Echo after the 95th Academy Awards.

“We his mother and father are so very proud of his achievements.

“Lots of hard work and talent, and also in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with everyone’s goal, and in Richard’s case it all came together as the second Oscar was put into his hands, and the love of his wife and three children beside him all the way to reach the pinnacle which was witnessed by all last night.

“The two after parties at the neon and the Vanity Fair, we all had a great time thanks to all the support from family, friends, and all the well-wishers, the whole experience [was] amazing.”

Originally from Ballyfermot, the Baneham family moved to Avonbeg before settling in Old Bawn in 1987.

Following his BAFTA win in February, Richard, who lives in California, enjoyed some time in his hometown in visiting The Edge Café, the Old Mill and Dominic’s Community Centre.

Richard jetted back to Hollywood last week to attend the Academy Awards and ultimately scooped the Best Visual Effects Oscar for The Way of Water.

After working on the original Avatar as an animation supervisor, Richard served as the Executive Producer, second unit director and visual effects supervisor on the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Taking to the stage of the Dolby Theatre in front of a packed audience full of Hollywood’s biggest stars alongside his colleagues Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett, Baneham started his acceptance speech with a bit of Irish.

“Go raibh maith agat,” the former Ballyfermot College of Further Education student said.

“To James Cameron – Jim Cameron – who’s thumbprint, artistic thumbprint is on every frame of this movie and Jon Landau who is the engine who drove us forward.

“We accept these awards on behalf of a very, very large crew. I would like to thank the LAB in LA, the LAB and the stage crew in both LA and New Zealand, and weather effects. They’re 2,000 strong in some ways.

“And Lina with the production team, and Joe leading the artists, an army of artists, and the amazingly talented supervisor that we have.

“The effects sat on the shoulders of our actors. Their performances are everything.”

The communities which Richard comes from have been celebrating his achievement.

An Post have painted the postbox outside Ballyfermot College of Further Education gold.

“We (An Post) are proud to say we’ve marked Richie Baneham’s Avatar Oscar by painting the postbox at Ballyfermot college of further education – Ballyfermot Rd (Convent),” a spokesperson for An Post told The Echo.

“Richie studied Animation in Ballyfermot College of Further Education from 1990 until 1994.

“An Post last turned postboxes gold for our Gold medal winners at the 2021 Paralympics and Olympics (Kellie Harrington, Ellen Keane etc).

“Our postboxes have seen everything down through the years but not many get the chance to celebrate a genuine world beater like Richie.”

Richard studied animation at Ballyfermot College of Further Education, which provided him with the platform to launch into the industry.

A post box close to Richard’s family home on the Old Bawn Road was also turned gold in celebration of Richard on Thursday. Read more. 

Throughout the 1990s, Richard worked on special effects and animation for Thumbelina, The Swan Princess, Space Jam and The Iron Giant before making a big visual effects breakthrough with the Lord of the Rings and working to bring Gollum to life.

Richard started working with James Cameron on Avatar in the mid-2000s, becoming a vital cog in realising the totally digital world of Pandora and its blue inhabitants, known as Na’vi.

The crew developed new motion capture technology for both films in the Avatar franchise so far.

Deep in post-production on the third Avatar film, and with production underway on the fourth and fifth films, Richard and a large crew of animators continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in the visual effects space.

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