The award-winning director’s Oscar stick went missing on the plane trip when it was not accepted as hand luggage

Oscar-winning Pavel Talankinin the podium disappeared during his flight. It is unclear whether the Oscar statue even ended up on the flight.

Last Wednesday, Talankin traveled from New York’s JF Kennedy Airport to Frankfurt, Germany. He had packed his Oscar in his carry-on luggage, but TSA officials refused to let him board the plane with it.

According to them, the statue weighing just under four kilograms would be a security risk, as it could be used as a weapon.

The airport officials wanted the Oscar to be put in the hold. Since Talankin had no checked baggage, the prize was packed in bubble wrap with the help of Lufthansa staff and sealed in a box for the flight.

After this the vertical disappeared.

The film website tells about it, among others Deadline and British Broadcasting Corporation BBC.

Russian Talankin won an Oscar this spring for his long documentary film Alone against Putin (Mr. Nobody Against Putin). Talankin is the second director and main character of the film.

He told Deadline that he has carried the award in his carry-on several times without problems since the Oscars in March.

“It’s completely incomprehensible that they can hold an Oscar as a weapon,” he said.

Talankin told the newspaper that a Lufthansa representative who was called to the security checkpoint offered to escort the filmmaker to the gate and hold the statue for the duration of the flight, but the TSA representative rejected the offer.

According to the director, the airline representative also suggested keeping Oscar in the cockpit, but that was also not agreed to.

Documentary executive producer Robin Hessman was on the phone with Talankin and TSA to help sort it out before the flight as Talankin does not speak fluent English.

Hessman told the BBC that, for example, an actor Leonardo DiCaprio has flown several times with both his Oscar and Bafta awards, both in the US and on international flights, and has never had a problem bringing the award stand on board.

“That wouldn’t have happened to Leonardo DiCaprio,” he said.

Lufthansa has regretted what happened.

“Our team is treating the matter with the utmost care and urgency, and we are conducting a comprehensive internal search to ensure that the award is found and returned as quickly as possible,” the airline told Deadline.

According to Deadline, living Oscar winners can contact the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to request a replacement statue in cases where the award is lost or severely damaged.

in Russia born Talankin is a former primary school teacher. He lives in exile after defying the way Russian schools were turned into part of the regime’s propaganda machine.

For example, teachers were required to send video evidence of successfully organized patriotic activities to the education authorities. Talankin also did that, but in the summer of 2024 he fled abroad with his video materials.

An award-winning documentary was born from this material.