Talankin’s missing Oscar recovered

Pavel Talankin’s Oscar statuette which was lost on his flight back from the United States to Germany has been found, Lufthansa confirmed. The German airline said it was in contact with Talankin and would return the award as quickly as possible.

Lufthansa also said it had launched an internal investigation into the matter and apologised for the incident.

Security staff at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport had barred Talankin from taking the statuette into the cabin, forcing him to check it in as luggage. Upon arrival in Frankfurt, however, the statue could not be found.

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.