The reaction to Irish fortunes

IRISH OSCAR WINNER Richie Baneham is proof that the “fires of Irish talent continue to burn as bright as ever”, the Irish Film Board said yesterday.

Dublin-born Baneham's win for best visual effects for Avatarput a gloss on what was a relatively disappointing night for Irish filmmakers, who won only one Oscar out of five nominations.

Film board chief executive Simon Perry said the Academy had honoured Irish film-makers with five nominations, “but for Richard to win an Oscar is international recognition at the highest level”. The Minister for Arts Martin Cullen also congratulated Baneham. The Minister described it as a “great personal success and a further recognition of the talent available in the Irish film industry”.

His Opposition counterpart, Olivia Mitchell, added her congratulations, and said the visual effects in Avatarwere "almost beyond belief". Labour spokeswoman on the arts Mary Upton said his win gives "cause for optimism" for the future of Irish film.

There was a palpable sense of disappointment among the team from Brown Bag Films, who gathered in the upstairs rooms in the Residence Club at St Stephen’s Green to watch the Oscar ceremony in the early hours of yesterday morning.

They had legitimate expectations of winning in the short animated film category for Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty,but lost out to the surprise winner, the French film Logorama.

However, Irish Film Board deputy chief executive Teresa McGrane said all the Irish losers on the night will get over their disappointment once they see how many doors a nomination opens for them.

“On a human level there will be an element of disappointment. I know it will be gutting for them, but they will see that it elevates their career and puts their companies into a different perspective when they are talking to the studios in the US,” she said.

McGrane said Brown Bag and the Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon, who made The Secret of Kells, would benefit from the exposure an Oscar nomination brings.

She cited the example of The Secret of Kells, which did little business in Ireland but opened very strongly in New York at the weekend, taking in $40,000 on one screen on one weekend on the strength of the nomination.

“Tomm is being talked about a lot in Los Angeles as a real talent,” she said.

McGrane said the Oscar nominations will also do wonders for the career of Juanita Wilson, the director of The Door, which was made by the Bray-based Octagon Films. Wilson is currently in post-production for her Bosnian war film As If I'm Not There.

In her Oscar blog, she said she had mixed feelings about losing out in the short film category. She said she was disappointed for “our guys and the actors”, but the trip to Los Angeles was a “really interesting window into the film industry, as I’ve always been an outsider”.

Maureen Conway, the principal of Ballyfermot College of Further Education said it was worth staying up until 5am this morning to watch Baneham win.

The Ballyfermot graduate, who attended his old alma mater just last week, acknowledged the influence of the college in his post-Oscar speech.

Conway said: “We had him pestered to mention us. We’re so delighted for him.”