After having to gate-check his Academy Award during a flight from New York to Frankfurt, recent Oscar winner Pavel Talankin experienced the loss of his statuette, only for the airline to locate it two days later. Talankin, co-director of the award-winning documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” was surprised when he was told by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent at John F. Kennedy Airport that the Oscar couldn’t be carried on board due to security concerns.
According to Talankin’s co-director, David Borenstein, the TSA considered the Oscar a potential weapon and placed it in a box to be transported in the cargo hold of the plane. Unfortunately, the Oscar did not make it to Frankfurt as expected.
Following Borenstein’s social media post about the missing Oscar, Lufthansa airline announced on Friday that they had located the lost statuette. In a statement, Lufthansa confirmed that the Oscar was now in their possession in Frankfurt and that they were working on returning it to Talankin promptly. The airline expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and issued an apology to the owner, mentioning an ongoing internal investigation into the incident.
The collaboration between Talankin and Borenstein resulted in their documentary winning the Academy Award for best documentary in March. Talankin, known as “Mr. Nobody” in the film, was a school teacher in Russia who filmed his students supporting Putin’s actions in Ukraine. He later joined forces with Borenstein, who resides in Denmark, to produce the award-winning documentary.
During their acceptance speech at the Oscars ceremony, Talankin, speaking through a translator, made a plea for peace, urging an end to all wars for the sake of future generations. The TSA did not provide any immediate response to inquiries made on Friday.