After having to surrender his Academy Award for a trans-Atlantic flight, Pavel Talankin, recent Oscar winner, experienced the disappearance of his Oscar before the airline located it two days later. Talankin, co-director of the award-winning documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” was unexpectedly required to check his statuette for a flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Frankfurt, Germany. A Transportation Security Administration agent deemed it unsuitable for carry-on. Talankin’s co-director, David Borenstein, revealed on Instagram that the TSA insisted the Oscar could be utilized as a potential weapon and placed it in a box at the bottom of the plane since Talankin lacked a bag to check it in. Unfortunately, the Oscar did not reach Frankfurt.
Following Borenstein’s social media post that sparked a global response, Lufthansa airline confirmed on Friday that they had located the missing Oscar. In an official statement, Lufthansa mentioned that the Oscar statue was now safely in their possession in Frankfurt. They expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and conveyed apologies to the owner, mentioning an ongoing internal investigation into the matter.
In March, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” won the Academy Award for best documentary, with Talankin and Borenstein delivering a poignant acceptance speech during the ceremony. Talankin, known as “Mr. Nobody” in the film, was a Russian school teacher and activities director who documented his students’ support for Putin’s actions in Ukraine. He collaborated with Borenstein, residing in Copenhagen, Denmark, after smuggling hard drives out of Russia. Talankin, speaking in Russian through a translator on stage, urged an end to all wars for the sake of the future and children.
The TSA did not immediately respond to inquiries on Friday.