Oscar statuette found after being confiscated by agents at New York's JFK

Pavel Talankin, star and co-director of documentary 'Mr Nobody Against Putin', was told trophy posed a security risk

Pavel Talankin claims his Oscar statuette never made it to Frankfurt despite it being checked into the hold of the plane. Picture: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

The Oscar statuette belonging to Pavel Talankin, star and co-director of the Academy Award-winning documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin, that went missing after being confiscated by airport officials in New York has been found.

Talankin said he lost his Oscar after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at New York’s John F Kennedy airport refused to let him bring it on a Lufthansa flight to Germany, claiming it could be used as a weapon.

The airline has now told the BBC that the statuette has “been located and is safely in our care in Frankfurt”, and it is arranging its return to Talankin “as quickly as possible”.

“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner. The careful and secure handling of our guests’ belongings is of the utmost importance to us,” a representative for the airline added. “An internal review of the circumstances is ongoing.”

Talankin, whose documentation of Russia’s propaganda machine in grade schools won international acclaim, said he had brought the statuette on several flights without incident. But when he arrived at JFK’s terminal 1 on Wednesday morning, TSA agents said he could not take the 3.8kg trophy onboard because it posed a security risk.

“It’s completely baffling how they consider an Oscar a weapon,” Talankin told the outlet after landing in Frankfurt, Germany, without the Oscar. 

On previous flights through numerous airlines, he said, “[I] flew with it in the cabin and there never was any kind of problem.”

According to Talankin, an agent for the airline Lufthansa called the security checkpoint on Wednesday and offered to walk Talankin to the gate and maintain possession of the statuette for the duration of the flight, but the TSA agent reportedly refused any compromise. 

The film-maker says he was told he would have to check the prize into the plane’s hold. But without a hard suitcase to store it, he opted for a cardboard box offered by Lufthansa, and videotaped two airline agents as they bubble-wrapped the Oscar, tagged it and took it off for transport.

Talankin claimed that box never made it to Frankfurt. 

Talankin, a former school videographer in Karabash, Russia, now lives in exile in Europe after fleeing his home country with the footage that would become Mr Nobody. A Russian court has since banned the Bafta-winning film from several platforms, alleging it promotes “negative attitudes” about the Russian government and the war in Ukraine.

Guardian