An Academy Award-winning director says an Oscar statue belonging to one of his collaborators has fallen missing after it was 'confiscated' by officials with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
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Oscar Winners Trophy Goes Missing at TSA
An Academy Award-winning director says an Oscar statue belonging to one of his collaborators has fallen missing after it was 'confiscated' by officials with the...
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David Borenstein and Pavel 'Pasha' Talankin co-directed Mr. Nobody Against , which , which took place on March 15.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Borenstein claimed that TSA officials refused to allow Talankin's trophy through security as he traveled from to Frankfurt, via Lufthansa Airlines.
'Yesterday he arrived at JFK ready to fly home to Europe, carrying the Oscar as a carry-on,' Borenstein said. 'I snapped the first picture here of him on his way out.'
Borenstein said that officials with the TSA told Talankin 'the Oscar could be used as a weapon' and 'wouldn't let him carry it on board.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to Borenstein, and representatives for the TSA and Lufthansa Airlines, for comment.
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An Academy Award-winning director says an Oscar statue belonging to one of his collaborators has fallen missing after it was 'confiscated' by officials with the TSA; (L-R) David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Radovan Sibrt, Robin Hessman and Helle Faber pictured at the Oscars in March
Borenstein said the doc's executive producer Robin Hessman 'got on the phone and tried to reason with' the TSA agent, but 'it didn't work.'
Borenstein said Talankin 'didn't have a bag to check it in, so the TSA put the Oscar in a box and sent it to the bottom of the plane.'
Pavel 'Pasha' Talankin co-directed Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which garnered the Best Documentary Feature at the 2026 ceremony
Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Borenstein claimed that TSA officials refused to allow Talankin's trophy through security as he traveled from New York City to Frankfurt, Germany via Lufthansa Airlines
Borenstein said that officials with the TSA told Talankin 'the Oscar could be used as a weapon' and 'wouldn't let him carry it on board'
'Oh no! An Oscar missing - we hear you, and we're here to help,' Lufthansa Airlines wrote.
'Here's what happens next: we're taking this on. And we take it super serious. We will do everything we can to find the Oscar as fast as possible and have already escalated this.'
Lufthansa Airlines urged Borenstein to send them a private message for further exchange of information.
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Mr Nobody Against Putin is centered around Talankin, who works at a primary school as an event planner, as he kept track of how Russia mandated depictions of its Ukraine invasion four years back.
Talankin left Russia in 2024, gaining asylum in Europe with the help of his collaborators on the doc after documenting evidence he was being tracked by police.
'In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now,' Talankin said via a translator as he accepted the coveted honors this past March.
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