Russian director Pavel Talankin‘s missing Oscar statuette for “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” has been found, a spokesperson for airline Lufthansa told the BBC Friday.
The Oscar went missing on Wednesday after Talankin, who co-directed the documentary with David Borenstein, was stopped from taking it on board a plane bound for Frankfurt, Germany by a security official at New York’s John F Kennedy airport.
The agent had argued that the statuette could be used as a weapon and it would have to go in the hold. As Talankin didn’t have a bag for the hold, the Oscar was put into a cardboard box. When he arrived in Germany the Oscar was gone.
“The Oscar statue has now been located and is safely in our care in Frankfurt,” Lufthansa said, adding that the airline was in direct contact with Talanki to reunite him with his Oscar “as quickly as possible.”
“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.
“An internal review of the circumstances is ongoing.”
