Bafta joy for Ulsterman: Lisburn's Nick Emerson wins editing gong ahead of Oscars race

And since the awards are often believed to be a good indicator of how the Oscars will go, things are now looking hopeful for Nick to get the movie world’s biggest prize – an Academy Award.

Born and raised in Lisburn, Nick was the editor on Conclave, a tense thriller about behind-the-scenes political wrangling in the Vatican as a new pope is elected.

Starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, Conclave won both the Best British Film and Best Film overall categories at the Baftas, as well as scoring a trophy for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Now the Oscars beckon; the film is up for eight Academy Awards and after its Bafta sweep, many industry insiders now predict it’ll be the frontrunner on the big night on March 2.

One of those Oscar nominations is for Best Editing, meaning Nick could be about to hit the very peak of his profession.

Sunday marked the first time he’s won a Bafta, after almost 30 years in TV and cinema.

Thanking his family for their support and the Conclave production team while collecting the award, he added that it was “incredible to be recognised in the company of all these other great nominees” and “an honour” to win.

Nick’s work includes the Belfast-set Good Vibrations, a 2012 movie examining the city’s late 1970s punk scene through the eyes of Terri Hooley, owner of the titular record store and label that first released music by the Undertones.

Starting his career in the BBC Northern Ireland newsroom in the late 1990s, he found the media machine an inspiration for his later work.

"I found myself doing factual TV and now feature films. It’s the process, that's the joy of it for me," he told the BBC this month.

Nick’s job is essential to the success of Conclave, as he’s the man responsible for making sure the twisty, dialogue-heavy tale of scheming cardinals is both nail-bitingly tense and easy for a mass audience to understand.

As he told IndieWire: “The biggest challenge was trying to maintain this sort of structural idea, and be very careful about the shots that we used and still keep it entertaining and thrilling within that framework.”