Lufthansa has found the Oscar statuette that went missing after Pavel Talankin, co-director and subject of the Academy Award-winning Mr. Nobody Against Putin, was forced to check the trophy in by TSA agents for a return flight to Europe.
“The Oscar statue has now been located and is safely in our care in Frankfurt,” Lufthansa said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. The airline added it was in contact with Talankin to reunite him with his lost Oscar “as quickly as possible.”
Talankin, who was flying home to Europe out of New York’s JFK airport earlier this week, claimed airport security refused to let him take his statue on board as a carry-on. The award was packed into a small box and put at the bottom of the aircraft. When Talankin arrived in Frankfurt, he was told the little gold statue had gone missing.
Lufthansa also apologized to Talankin for the missing Oscar. “We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologized to the owner. The careful and secure handling of our guests’ belongings is of the utmost importance to us,” the airline said in its statement.
Talankin brought the Oscar back to Europe after the Academy Awards ceremony on March 15, taking it as a carry-on in his in-flight bag and without incident. He returned to the U.S. in April, again taking the statue on board as a carry-on.
But after the return journey, Mr. Nobody Against Putin co-director David Borenstein posted the story of the lost Oscar on Instagram, complete with a before photo showing Talakin with the Oscar hanging in a mesh bag hooked to his belt and an after photo of the lost baggage slip.
He tagged Lufthansa, asking for help in retrieving the missing Oscar, leading to its location later in the week.
