Sawt Falasteen - Lufthansa says searching for Oscar lost after US airport security row

Talankin, who won an Academy Award for his documentary "Mr Nobody Against Putin", was prevented from taking the statuette on board a flight at JFK Airport on Wednesday, film industry news site Deadline reported.

US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials told him they thought it could be used as a weapon and he was forced to check it into the hold in a cardboard box, Deadline said.

When he landed in Germany, the golden statuette was missing.

"We deeply regret this situation," Lufthansa said in a statement.

"Our team is handling this matter with the utmost care and urgency, and we are conducting a comprehensive internal search to ensure that the Oscar is found and returned as quickly as possible."

Talankin, 35, a videographer from a small-town Russian school, caused a sensation when he won the Academy Award for best documentary feature alongside US filmmaker David Borenstein in March.

Made from footage Talankin had smuggled out of Russia, "Mr Nobody Against Putin" chronicles pro-war patriotic lessons introduced in Russia's schools under President Vladimir Putin amid Moscow's Ukraine offensive.

Talankin told Deadline he had flown at least a dozen times with the statuette without any issues.

"It's completely baffling how they consider an Oscar a weapon," he said after landing in Frankfurt on Thursday morning, adding that on previous flights he "flew with it in the cabin, and there never was any kind of problem".

A Lufthansa agent had offered to walk Talankin to the gate and keep hold of his statuette during the flight, but this plan was vetoed by a TSA official, according to Deadline.

K.Hassan--SF-PST