Oscar is missing after Academy Award winner was prevented from taking it on a flight3 hours agoRegan MorisLos AngelesReutersOscar-winner Pavel Talankin had to check in his golden statuette at a New York Airport for his documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin – and it’s now missing.Talankin claims he had the Academy Award for his documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin in his carry-on for a flight to Germany, but airport security at John F Kennedy International Airport stopped him because they thought it could be a When he arrived in Germany, he found that the Oscar had disappeared. The airline, Lufthansa, who helped him pack it in a box to take on the flight because Talankin did not have a checked luggage, said that their team was treating the incident with a lot of care and urgency and are conducting a “comprehensive search” internally for the award. Pavel Talankin “Our team is treating the matter with utmost urgency and care, and we are conducting an extensive internal search to ensure that the Oscar is returned as quickly as is possible. The BBC contacted the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and US Transportation Security Administration, which handles airport security and prevented Talankin from taking his Oscar on his flight bag. Robin Hessman said that she spoke on speakerphone with Talankin, the executive producer of the BBC documentary, to help him in the airport, as Talankin doesn’t speak fluent English. She said, “This would not have happened to Leonardo DiCaprio.” Talankin, co-director and protagonist in the Best Feature Documentary, often travels with the award to showcase at events or screenings. During his trip to New York, he handed it out to students at a university after a screening. The BBC has seen video of Lufthansa employees using tape and bubble wrap in order to pack the Oscar in a box. The Academy Award is 13.5in (34cm), and weighs approximately 8.5lb. The statuette is said to cost between $400 and $1,000. Mr Nobody Against Putin was a documentary Talankin made documenting the ramping-up of war propaganda at a Russian school where he worked following Russia’s invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. He is now exiled for his safety from Russia and living elsewhere in Europe. The documentary has been banned from three streaming platforms in Russia because it “propagates extremism and terrorist activity”.
