Oscar-Winning Documentary Trophy Found After Lufthansa Baggage Mix-up

NEW YORK, May 2 (Bernama-dpa) -- Oscar winner Pavel Talankin was preparing to leave New York on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt when he was asked to check the coveted statuette as baggage, his colleague David Borenstein wrote on Instagram, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

After that, there was no trace of the valuable film prize awarded to Talankin and Borenstein for their film “Mr. Nobody vs. Putin,” which follows a Russian teacher who secretly documents the transformation of his small-town school into a war recruitment centre during the Ukraine invasion.

The film is a German co-production involving Arte and public broadcaster ZDF.

They then asked Germany’s flagship carrier for help.

Lufthansa said the Oscar had reappeared, but a spokesperson initially could not provide any information about the circumstances of its disappearance.

"We can confirm that the Oscar statuette is now in our custody in Frankfurt. We are already in direct contact with the guest to arrange the personal handover as quickly as possible. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner," the airline said in a statement.

According to Borenstein, the trophy had been taken from Talankin, a Russian citizen, by security personnel at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on the grounds that it could be used as a weapon on board.

It was then checked as baggage in a box, the filmmaker said.

-- BERNAMA-dpa