Richard Baneham wins Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

Richard Baneham has won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 98th Academy Awards for his work on Avatar: Fire and Ash.

This is the third Oscar nomination and third win for the Tallaght visual effects artist, who has won previously for his work on Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

Tonight, Baneham won the award alongside collaborators Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett.

"Thank you to our families," Baneham said in his acceptance speech. "To all our families, this is everything."

The lauded director James Cameron is the creator of the Avatar franchise.

"He literally informs every frame of the movie," Baneham said of Cameron, who he affectionately called "Jim".

Baneham also acknowledged the "22,000 artists" involved in the making of the film.

"This is a massive, massive collaboration," he said.

Baneham won the BAFTA for his work on Avatar: Fire and Ash a few weeks ago. He is in pre-production for the next two Avatar films.