NEW YORK – The golden Oscar statuette belonging to Russian filmmaker Pavel Talankin, which was reported missing after a security dispute at John F. Kennedy International Airport, has been successfully located. Lufthansa Airlines confirmed on Friday that the award was found in Frankfurt, Germany, and is being returned to the director.
The incident began when Talankin, the director of the Oscar-winning documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, attempted to board a flight from New York to Germany. Despite having traveled with the trophy in his carry-on luggage multiple times since his win in March 2026, TSA officials at JFK deemed the 8.5-pound statuette a “potential weapon.” Due to these security concerns, Talankin was forced to check the award into the plane’s cargo hold, packed inside a simple cardboard box.
Upon his arrival in Frankfurt, however, the filmmaker discovered that the box was empty. The loss prompted an immediate investigation by Lufthansa, while the film’s production team expressed outrage over the situation. Robin Hessman, the film’s executive producer, who assisted Talankin via phone during the security screening, suggested that the director’s limited English proficiency might have led to his unfair treatment by airport staff. “This wouldn’t have happened to Leonardo DiCaprio,” Hessman noted, highlighting the unusual nature of the confiscation.
Lufthansa has since issued a formal apology to Talankin, stating that the award is now safely in their care and will be handed back to him “as quickly as possible.” The airline added that an internal review is ongoing to determine how the statuette went missing from its packaging during the transit.
Talankin’s documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, gained international acclaim for exposing pro-war propaganda in Russian schools. The filmmaker had previously smuggled footage out of Russia to complete the project, which won Best Documentary Feature at the 98th Academy Awards.
