An Oscar-winning director’s statuette was returned after it went missing Thursday while he boarded a flight at JFK Airport.
Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, director of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” told Deadline that a Transportation Security Administration worker confiscated his award, citing concerns it posed a safety threat and could be used as a weapon. TSA told him the Oscar would be put in a box and sent to the plane’s holding area.
Mr. Talakin was traveling via Lufthansa from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Frankfurt, Germany, when the incident occurred.
The airline told Deadline the statuette was safe in Frankfurt and would be returned to Mr. Talankin as soon as possible.
Mr. Talankin is a former school videographer from Russia whose film exposes how the Putin administration aims to indoctrinate schoolchildren following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He is now living in exile in Europe.
If an Oscar statuette is severely damaged or lost, living winners can request a replacement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• Juliet La Sala can be reached at jlasala@washingtontimes.com.
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