Desmond Finney to receive ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’
The Sierra Leone Association of Artist and Musicians (SLAAM) has recently selected Desmond Brian Finney, a prolific Sierra Leonean actor, to receive an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award for developing skills in people in theatre, film, and entertainment in Sierra Leone.
SLAAM Award is an intercontinental awarding event that usually spots out people in relations to their talents in music, film, book publishing, comedy, sports, fashion designing, humanitarian, etc.
Giileh Kebbie Scholz, the founder president of SLAAM, said that the award would be given to Finney for his numerous contributions in developing peoples’ talent in the entertainment industry in Sierra Leone. He said that Finney had helped so many people that had made it in life in the entertainment industry.
Scholz stressed, “Desmond Finney, you have been unanimously selected by the executive of SLAAM to receive the distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Film. The talent you have given to Sierra Leone in the past going above and beyond your potential to develop the skills in others in the area of theatre, film and entertainment has indeed been recognized, and you have been unanimously selected to receive an honorary Lifetime Achievement at the 6th lifetime to be aired virtually on Sunday June 12, 2021.”
Scholz said that the past recipients of the same award had been Dr.Julius Spencer,TJ Cole,Jimmy Bangura and many others.
Desmond Finney was also nominated for the best actor in a movie titled ‘Mind Game’.
Finney has a B.A. (English & sociology) in 1993 at the University of Sierra Leone. He had served as a Lecturer in Theatre Arts, English Unit, Department of Language Studies at Fourah Bay College (USL) since January 1997.
He had worked with various theatre groups, companies and schools including Humberside (TIE) in Hull Travelling light (TIE), Remould Theatre company, Hull Truck Theatre Company, DADA Drum Community music and various schools in Bristol and Cumbria.
Finney had received many awards which included: Mount Aureol Awards (Sierra Leone), as Director of the year 1994; AWoL Sierra Leone awards 2014, as Best Actor; ANSEV Movie Awards 2015, Best Actor; Ministry of Tourism and Culture Recognition Awards; Special movie awards Gambia 2016, Best Foreign Actor; Special Movie Awards (Gambia) 2017, Lifetime Achievement Award; SLAAM (USA) 2019 Best supporting Actor; National Entertainment Awards (2019), Lifetime Achievement Award; FaNEA Faces of the North Entertainment Awards 2019, Lifetime Achievement Awards; Black Continental International Movie Awards (USA) 2019, Best Supporting Actor; AWOL 2019 National Achievement Awards, Best Performing Artist of the year (Movies).
By Ibrahim S.Bangura
