After having to stow his Academy Award during a trans-Atlantic flight, Pavel Talankin, a recent Oscar winner, encountered a brief Oscar disappearance before the airline eventually located it two days later. Talankin, who co-directed the acclaimed documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” was unexpectedly required to check his award for a flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Frankfurt, Germany. The Transportation Security Administration deemed the Oscar a potential weapon, resulting in it being placed in a box at the airport and sent to the airplane’s lower deck. Unfortunately, the Oscar did not make it to Frankfurt as planned.
Following a social media post by Talankin’s co-director, David Borenstein, the airline, Lufthansa, confirmed on Friday that the missing Oscar had been found. Lufthansa reassured that the statue was secure and in their possession in Frankfurt. They expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and were coordinating with Talankin for its swift return, while also acknowledging the need for an internal review of the incident.
The collaboration between Talankin and Borenstein led to the success of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” which won the Academy Award for best documentary in March. Talankin, featured as “Mr. Nobody” in the film, was a schoolteacher in Russia who documented his students’ pro-Putin activities and later collaborated with Borenstein in Denmark. Their acceptance speech at the Oscars highlighted a plea for peace, with Talankin urging an end to wars for the sake of the future and children.
Despite attempts to reach out, the Transportation Security Administration had not responded to inquiries by Friday.