Pavel Talankin’s Oscar lost on flight home

Oscar winner Pavel Talankin's Academy Award is missing after TSA officials at John F Kennedy International Airport refused to let him board a flight to Germany with the statuette. Talankin says he had the Oscar in his carry-on bag for the flight, but airport security made him check it into the luggage compartment saying the award could be used as a weapon. Upon arrival at Frankfurt Airport the statuette could not be found.

Lufthansa airlines, which helped Talankin pack the award in a box for the flight, says their team is doing everything possible to locate it. The film’s director David Borenstein has questioned the decision of security staff, asking whether it had anything to do with the fact that Pavel Talankin is not an international celebrity actor and does not speak fluent English.

Talankin is a Russian primary school teacher who filmed the material for Mr. Nobody Against Putin during classes, documenting the rise of pro-war militarized propaganda in Russian schools. The unique recordings were turned into a Czech–Danish documentary, which won an Oscar for Best Documenary Feature Film.