Oscar goes missing after Academy Award winner is blocked from taking it on flight

The airline said it regrets the situation and was doing an urgent "comprehensive internal search" for the award. Pavel Talankin's Oscar for Mr Nobody Against Putin goes missing on NY flight Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Oscar winner Pavel Talankin brought along the award to show university students during a screening in New York A man in a tuxedo lies on the floor in front of a golden Oscar statuette Oscar goes missing after Academy Award winner is blocked from taking it on flight Oscar winner Pavel Talankin was forced to check his golden statuette for his documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin at a New York airport - and now it's missing. Talankin says he had the Academy Award in his carry-on bag for a flight to Germany on Wednesday, but airport security stopped him at John F Kennedy International Airport because they said the award could be used as a weapon. But when he landed in Germany, the Oscar was gone. Lufthansa airlines, which helped him pack the award in a box for the flight since Talankin didn't have a checked bag, said their team is treating the incident with "care and urgency" and they are doing a "comprehensive internal search" for the award. The Oscar was packed inside a box so it could be packed under the plane as a checked item A white box with blue writing sits on a table in an airport "We deeply regret this situation," the airline said in a statement. "Our team is treating this matter with the utmost care and urgency, and we are conducting a comprehensive internal search to ensure the Oscar is found and returned as quickly as possible." The BBC has contacted the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which handles airport security and stopped Talankin from bringing his Oscar in his on-flight bag. The BBC documentary's executive producer, Robin Hessman, said that she was on speaker phone with Talankin and TSA to help in the airport because Talankin does not speak fluent English. 's executive producer, Robin Hessman, said that she was on speaker phone with Talankin and TSA to help in the airport because Talankin does not speak fluent English. Pavel Talankin looking direct to camera in a grey suit and black top, with people behind him From Mr Nobody to Oscar winner: How one man took on Putin She told the BBC that he'd flown multiple times with his Oscar and also his Bafta, both of which he'd won this year, across the US and on international flights, and never had any issues bringing his Oscar aboard. "This wouldn't have happened to Leonardo DiCaprio," she said. Talankin, the co-director and protagonist of the Best Feature Documentary winner, travels with the award often to showcase at events at screenings. During this trip in New York, he passed it around an audience of students at a university during a Q&A session after a screening of the documentary. The BBC has viewed video of Lufthansa staff using tape and bubble wrap to pack the Oscar into a box. An Academy Award stands 13.5in tall (34cm) and weighs 8.5lb (3.9 kg). It reportedly costs from $400 to $1,000 to create the statuette. Mr Nobody Against Putin is a documentary Talankin filmed documenting the ramping up of war propaganda in a Russian school, where he worked, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He is now exiled from Russia for his own safety and living elsewhere in Europe. Russia has banned the documentary from three streaming platforms on the grounds that it "propagates extremism and terrorism". from three streaming platforms on the grounds that it "propagates extremism and terrorism". In a phone call with President Trump, Putin proposed a ceasefire on 9 May, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in WW2. Russia says the annual commemoration of Soviet victory in World War Two will not feature military vehicles or cadets. Last weekend's attacks came as the Africa Corps withdrew from a key base in northern Mali. Politics have become an increasingly thorny issue in the Villages, the world's largest retirement community. Five students and one security guard were taken to hospital following the attack at Foss High School. The Texas man allegedly refunded the orders of hundreds of catering-sized mac-and-cheese trays to his personal credit cards. The CCTV shows an officer draw a firearm and open fire as the suspect sprints past. The shutdown caused chaos in airports across the US as politicians feuded over funds for Trump's immigration crackdown.