Oscar Mania at BCFE! Congrats again to Richie Baneham!
Ballyfermot College is celebrating! We are super proud of animation graduate Richie Baneham for winning yet another Academy Award, for his role as animation supervisor on Avatar: The Way of Water. The Tallaght-born native previously won an Oscar in 2010 for Best Visual Effects on the first Avatar film– the highest grossing movie of all time.
Background
Baneham is one of the country’s most successful animators and visual effects supervisors. He trained at BCFE in the early 90s before chancing his luck at cracking the notoriously competitive film industry in LA.
His first big break saw him work as an animator on The Iron Giant before establishing himself as a major player in Hollywood as animation supervisor for the second and third Lord of the Rings movies.
Richie is one of 12 BCFE animation graduates living the dream in LA as part of a tight closeknit Irish diaspora.
The BCFE animation department has been punching above its weight for over 30 years. In 2021 the college was ranked 18 in the world in a global ranking of top international animation schools, by Animation Careers Magazine. The college now boasts ten Oscar nominations among its former students. Tomm Moore and Paul Young’s Wolfwalkers was nominated for an Oscar in 2021 and Nora Twomey was nominated for her directorial debut The Breadwinner in 2018.
The people who make this on-screen magic happen are the architects of our escapism.
Film and Animation at BCFE
With graduates winning awards from BAFTAS to Oscars, it’s easy see why students flock to study film and animation at BCFE.
Feeling inspired? Want to be part of the incredible Irish film industry Check out BCFE’s courses in Animation, Film, and Visual Effects from QQI Level 5 though to BA Hons Level 8.