Pasha Talankian, Oscar winner for An Ordinary Joe Against Putin, says that his statuette vanished after being prevented from boarding a plane with it. According to him, TSA officials, the American agency responsible for ensuring airport security, did not permit him to enter the aircraft with the prize, claiming that it could be used as a weapon.
Talankian is the director and star of the feature, which went on to win Best Documentary at this year’s Oscars. The filmmaker stated that he had previously managed to travel with the Oscar in his carry-on; however, he encountered obstacles last Wednesday, the 29th, when attempting to board at JFK airport in New York.
In an interview with Deadline, he said it was “incomprehensible” that the Oscar could be considered a weapon, and emphasized that he had never had trouble with other airlines.
The artist said that a Lufthansa employee offered some suggestions on how to proceed with the situation, but all were rejected by the TSA. According to the filmmaker, the man had offered to guard the statuette during the flight, after accompanying him to the boarding gate, as well as to keep the prize in the cockpit.
However, Talankian had to check the Oscar in the plane’s baggage hold, as he was informed. The director did not have any hard case that could serve to carry the statuette; so they gave him a cardboard box, where he placed his prize during the flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
However, upon arriving at his destination, the box had disappeared.
A worker at a school in a rural area of Russia, Pasha Talankian documented the escalation of military propaganda at the school where he worked after the start of the war against Ukraine. Today, he lives in exile, far from his homeland.
Colleague Makes Appeal
David Borenstein, also the director of the winning documentary, posted about the case on his Instagram. In the post, he used an image of Talankian, with the prize. After explaining the events, the filmmaker raised a question.
“Pavel would have been treated the same way if he were a famous actor? Or a fluent English speaker?”, he questioned, due to Talankian speaking Russian and having to rely on executive producer Robin Hessman to help translate during the conversation with the staff.
Borenstein also said he had conducted a search about other artists who had shipped their prizes and could not “find a single other case.” The director closed the post with a plea to anyone who might have information about the statuette.
