BAFTA brought home to Ballyfermot
On the 19th of February 2023, Ballyfermot College graduate Richie Baneham won his 2nd BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water. It was a big deal for the students and staff of Ballyfermot College. The win was all over the social media platforms of the college and the acceptance speech got plenty of attention within not only the college but also in the Irish media as a whole.
Today, the college got a big surprise when Richie Baneham’s father, Michael, came to the campus with his son’s BAFTA. The principal, Cecilia, was the first person to see it and over the course of the day, many students and staff members got a chance to take a picture with the BAFTA and Richie Baneham’s father. There were plenty of pictures taken throughout the day and we can show you some of them here.
Karl English from The Student Social interviewed Daniel Valentine, the Clubs and Societies Officer for the Student Council who was there and got a class photo with the BAFTA. Here’s what Daniel had to say about the award coming to Ballyfermot.
“It’s nice to see someone from the same beginnings as all of us, from a Further Education College, being nominated for an Oscar.”
Speaking about the facilities available for Ballyfermot College Students Daniel had this to say; “For my course, we have so many programmes funnelled into us. We got Newt, we got Lightroom, we got Maya, we got Premiere Pro…. Definitely practically, things are better for us than for the theory stuff… At times, you’re not going to think the theory comes into effect, but when you’re actually in practice, when you’re out in the field, that theory does actually come in handy at times.”
You might wonder if today’s visit has inspired the next generation of Content Creators, Daniel says yes;
“It’s nice to see that there’s this big world out there and from this small beginning that some people have now, it’s definitely within shot.”
