Director Talankin lost his Oscar at a New York airport…

Director Talankin lost his Oscar at a New York airport, where he was not allowed to take it on board

01.05.2026 15:00 HotInfo

Russian director Pavel Talankin lost his Oscar statuette after security staff at New York's John F. Kennedy airport forbade him from taking it into the plane's cabin. Security staff judged that the statuette could be used as a weapon, and the director was thus forced to check it in with his luggage. During check-in, the statuette got lost. irozhlas.cz ↗ El Pais ↗

Talankin is one of the directors of the documentary film "Mr. Nobody Against Putin," which was awarded an Oscar. According to the testimony of his co-creator David Borenstein, the statuette was effectively confiscated, and the director first had to hand the award over to a flight attendant to be checked in as luggage, even though it is a valuable art object and a symbol of a prestigious award. The film is devoted to criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin. HVG ↗

The incident occurred at JFK airport during a flight from New York to Frankfurt. Borenstein subsequently published information about the incident on social media, where he drew attention to the unusual conduct of the security staff. The loss of the Oscar during the flight thus represents an unusual case in which a valuable film award ended up missing during routine luggage check-in. It is not yet clear whether the trail of the statuette has been found, or what steps will be taken to search for it. BBC News ↗

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