Lufthansa to Return Lost Oscar to Director After Travel Mix-Up
UPDATE: Lufthansa has reported the recovery of an Oscar statuette that went missing after filmmaker Pasha Talankin was informed he could not bring it onboard a flight from JFK Airport in New York to Frankfurt, Germany.
In a statement, Lufthansa emphasized the importance of handling customer belongings with care, adding, “An internal review of the circumstances is ongoing.”
PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: The statuette, awarded for Talankin’s film Mr. Nobody Against Putin, was deemed a potential weapon by TSA officials at JFK, leading to its check-in.
“It’s completely baffling how they consider an Oscar a weapon,” Talankin shared from Frankfurt, where he arrived Thursday morning. He noted that he had previously traveled with the statuette in the cabin without any issues.
Pavel Talankin with his Oscar statuette near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on March 27, 2026.
Photo by Contributor/Getty Images
Talankin revealed that a Lufthansa agent had suggested he could stay with the statuette until reaching the gate, but a TSA agent denied that arrangement. Another proposal to store the Oscar in the cockpit during the flight was also rejected by TSA and a Lufthansa supervisor.
“You have to check it under the plane,” Talankin recalled being told. To navigate the situation, he reached out to Robin Hessman, the executive producer of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, for assistance with translation as he spoke with the TSA and Lufthansa officials.
Upon arriving in Frankfurt, Talankin discovered that the statuette was missing.
“[Pasha] calls me this morning from Frankfurt saying Lufthansa doesn’t have it. They lost it,” Hessman stated. “He has a ticket number [for the box], and they can’t find it.”
Pasha Talankin’s “Property Irregularity Report” from Lufthansa pertaining to the missing Oscar.
Pasha Talankin
Talankin, once a grade school teacher in a Russian industrial town, has been living in exile following his resistance to a Kremlin directive mandating a nationalistic and militaristic educational curriculum after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His film, co-directed with David Borenstein, chronicles his transformation from a respected educator to a social outcast.
Borenstein shared his frustrations on Instagram, tagging both Lufthansa and the TSA, stating, “I’ve looked and I can’t find a single other case of someone being forced to check an Oscar. Would Pavel have been treated the same way if he were a famous actor? Or a fluent English speaker?” His post attracted numerous comments, including one urging Lufthansa to locate and return the statuette, likening its absence to an unacceptable oversight.
Another commenter expressed outrage over the situation, questioning the inconsistency in how awards like the Oscar are handled during travel.
