The Irishman who is the special effects genius behind Avatar is looking forward to this week's Oscars.

Richard Baneham says he's embarrassed by all the attention and says Colin Farrell even bows to him .

"I was at party in New York last week when I heard this Dublin accent. It was Colin Farrell. I had never met him before but he looked over and said: 'Jesus, you're in the papers more than me.' It was a very humbling experience," he told the Irish Independent.

Baneham won a BAFTA last weekend , accepting his award with a wonderful dedication to his wife Aisling.

"That was an accident. There were four of us on stage and each was supposed to thank different people. The last guy had the job of individually thanking our wives but when he just did a general thing I stepped in.

He also thanked his parents for their support "From when I was young, dad taught me to stand up for myself. Because of that, I've had some very loud stand-offs with some key directors in this industry. I can tell you James Cameron is not a man to avoid an argument," he joked..

As for the Oscars "There's a great big crowd of Irish going over. I heard that the Irish Film Board have booked Dylan's pub up the road as the central hub of Irish support. Win, lose or draw, I'll be swinging by there on the night for a pint."