Overview
- Lufthansa said the Oscar is now in its possession in Frankfurt and it is arranging to return it to Pavel Talankin in person.
- The trophy went missing after screeners at New York’s JFK told Talankin the 3.8 kg statuette could serve as a weapon and required it to be checked.
- Co-director David Borenstein said a Lufthansa staffer offered to hold the statuette at the gate, but a TSA official rejected the plan, and news reports include no TSA comment.
- Talankin said he has flown with the Oscar at least a dozen times before without trouble and called the weapon claim incomprehensible.
- Talankin and American filmmaker David Borenstein won Best Documentary in March for Mr Nobody Contre Poutine, a film built from images smuggled out of Russia, which has fueled interest in the mishap.