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The Netherlands and Indonesia on Monday hailed the return of hundreds of cultural artifacts taken — sometimes by force — during colonial times as a major step forward in restitution efforts worldwide.

The items, ranging from valuable jewels to 13th-century temple carvings, were officially handed back to Indonesia at a ceremony at the Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden.

“We are really delighted. This is a very historic moment for both us, Indonesia, and the Netherlands. And the relationship between the two,” said Hilmar Farid, director general of cultural heritage at Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture. “But I think what we have achieved so far is also a very significant contribution to the global debate about returning of colonial objects.”

The Dutch government announced the return last week of the Indonesian treasures and looted artifacts from Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry welcomed the decision and said the Indian Ocean nation will work to preserve the items, including a richly decorated ceremonial cannon.

They are the first artifacts returned home on the advice of a Dutch committee set up in 2022 to assess requests by countries for restitution of artifacts in state museums. The committee is considering more restitution requests from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.

Indonesia got back more than the trove of glittering jewels and ancient carvings from a temple in Java, said Farid.

“We consider these objects as our missing items in our historical narrative and of course they play different roles symbolically, culturally,” he said. Their return means Indonesia can “reintegrate them into their cultural contexts. And that is, of course, of symbolic importance to us.”

Gunay Uslu, the Dutch state secretary for culture and media, called the presentation Monday “a historically, important” event that resonates beyond the Netherlands and its former colony.

“It’s also an important moment for the world because it’s about colonial objects in a colonial context. So it’s a sensitive topic,” she said.

A Berlin museum announced in January it is ready to return hundreds of human skulls from the former German colony of East Africa. In 2021, France said it was returning statues, royal thrones and sacred altars taken from the West African nation of Benin. And last year, Belgium returned a gold-capped tooth belonging to the slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba.
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Indiana Jones’ reign atop the box office was short-lived. In its second weekend in theaters, the Disney release was usurped by another franchise fifth – ” Insidious: The Red Door.” The horror film starring and directed by Patrick Wilson scared up $32.7 million in ticket sales from 3,188 theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

It did better than the last installment, “Insidious: The Last Key,” from 2018 and is the most any PG-13 horror movie has earned in its debut in the past two years.

“Insidious 5” was not well reviewed — but modestly budgeted scary movies are often critic-proof when it comes to the box office. This Blumhouse-produced franchise starring Wilson and Rose Byrne began in 2011 under the direction of James Wan and has been responsible for over $570 million in global box office returns — and none of the films has cost more than $16 million to produce. Only the first movie received a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes; The “Insidious” films more often garner sub 40% scores.

“The horror genre seems to have a never-ending allure for audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Horror movies are profitable and they’re popular. Audiences love them and the accountants love them, too.”

It was shrewd of Sony to release “Insidious” on the weekend between two Hollywood tentpoles, in this case ” Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ” and ” Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I,” which opens on Wednesday. But it was still a surprise that it was able to take No. 1 from something as well-known as “Indiana Jones.”

“It was a perfect release date,” Dergarabedian said. “This adds more complexity to the dynamics of the marketplace.”

“Indiana Jones 5” took second place in its second weekend with $26.5 million in North America (down 56% from its opening), bringing its domestic total to $121.2 million. Globally it’s earned an estimated $247.9 million.

Indy had some other competition too, in “Sound of Freedom,” a child trafficking drama starring Jim Caveziel, that opened on July 4 and nearly boasted similar ticket sales for the day. “Sound of Freedom” was made and distributed by Angel Studios, a faith-based, crowdfunded operation, and managed to come in third place this weekend with an estimated $18.2 million from 2,850 theaters.

Brandon Purdie, head of theatrical distribution at Angel Studios, said in a statement that the numbers exceeded expectations and attributed its success to word of mouth.

“We’re deeply grateful to AMC, Cinemark, Regal, and all our theater partners — and their hard-working theater staff members — for working with us to accommodate the surging demand for this film and having the courage to release ‘Sound of Freedom’ during the busiest movie season of the year,” Purdie said.

Part of Angel Studios’ operation involved the ability to buy “pay it forward” tickets on behalf of others. On opening day, the studio estimated that $11.6 million came from direct box office and $2.7 million through the pay it forward option. The film has been popular among right-wing pundits too and has appeared on QAnon message boards.

“Joy Ride” also made its theatrical debut this weekend in 2,820 locations and earned an underwhelming $5.9 million to take sixth place behind “Elemental” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” The R-rated comedy directed and co-written by Adele Lim follows four friends on an international trip, played by Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu.

The modestly budgeted Lionsgate release got rave reviews out of the South by Southwest Film Festival and maintains a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it didn’t motivate big crowds this weekend. Those that did go (58% women, 72% over age 25, according to PostTrak) gave it a B- CinemaScore, suggesting the movie did not meet expectations, which can sometimes be because of how the film was marketed. The hope is that word-of-mouth might help “Joy Ride” in the coming weeks.

“Joy Ride” is one of several raunchy, adult comedies in theaters this summer, including the Jennifer Lawrence movie “No Hard Feelings,” which earned $5.3 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $40.3 million.

In more limited release, “The Lesson,” a literary chamber thriller starring Richard E. Grant and Daryl McCormack, opened to $157,752 from 268 screens.

With the summer movie season at its midway point, there is concern about the overall box office, which is about on par with where it was at the same point in 2022.

“By now, we thought we’d be well ahead of last year,” Dergarabedian said. “But (movies like ‘Insidious’ and ‘Sound of Freedom) add more revenue to the bottom line that a lot of people didn’t expect. Sometimes surprises come along and that’s great for theaters.”

He added, “But we need the next few weeks to really overperform.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $32.7 million.

2. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $26.5 million.

3. “Sound of Freedom,” $18.2 million.

4. “Elemental,” $9.6 million.

5.” Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” $8 million.

1. “Joy Ride,” $5.9 million.

2. “No Hard Feelings,” $5.3 million.

3. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” $5 million.

4. “The Little Mermaid,” $3.5 million.

5. “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” $2.8 million.
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STOCKHOLM – Surrounded by emotional fans from around the globe, Elton John hailed them as his “lifeblood” as he gave his final farewell concert in Stockholm after more than 50 years of live performances.

“You know how much I like to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you’ve been absolutely magnificent,” he told the delighted audience at the arena in the Swedish capital.

Wearing a tailcoat accented with rhinestones and a red pair of his trademark large glasses, the 76-year-old pop superstar sat down at the piano shortly after 8 p.m. local time to cheers to open his farewell show with one of his most popular songs, Bennie and the Jets.

Playing for more than two hours, John interspersed the songs with moments when he would leave the piano to thank not only his fans but also his band and his crew, some of whom have been with him for more than 40 years.

“I want to pay tribute to these musicians. … They’re really incredible, they’ve been with me so long, some of them. And they are the best, I tell you, the best,” he said.

Shortly after a rendition of Border Song which he dedicated to Aretha Franklin, John’s I’m Still Standing brought the 30,000 fans at the Tele2 Arena to their feet.

Before he took his encore, John screened a message from Coldplay, who were playing in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg, in which singer Chris Martin thanked him for his career and commitment.

“It was amazing. I have no words right now because I haven’t processed all the show, but it was amazing,” said Anton Pohjonen, a 25-year-old bank worker from Finland.

“You almost start tearing up on his account. But then it feels great to be here,” added Swedish teacher Conny Johansson, who bought tickets for the show four years ago.

Excited fans were looking forward to an emotional end to the superstar’s glittering live career even before the curtain went up.

“It’s going to be very emotional tonight,” said Kate Bugaj, 25, a Polish student who admitted she had delayed her master’s exams to follow her musical hero’s tour.

Describing herself as a “huge fan,” she said it all began the first time she watched The Lion King, the 1994 Walt Disney film which gave John one of his two Oscar music wins.

Fifty-year-old Jeanie Kincer traveled from Kentucky in the United States for the show.

“I wanted to be here for the end because I was too young to be here in the beginning,” she said.

The star has been winding down his decades-long live career with a global farewell tour.

He played his last concerts in the United States in May and brought the curtain down on Britain’s annual Glastonbury Festival last month.

Saturday’s farewell concert was the second consecutive evening the Stockholm stadium hosted the legendary British singer-songwriter for the last leg of his final tour, which began five years ago and was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a hip operation in 2021.

On his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, John will have given 330 concerts, crisscrossing Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain, before closing in Stockholm.

Overall, the tour has seen him perform in front of 6.25 million fans. 
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Two very different films are set to come out on July 21. One is about the development of the world’s first nuclear weapons. The other is about Barbie. 

Which one has proved to be contentious on the global stage? Surprisingly, it’s not the Oppenheimer biopic. 

Instead, the much-anticipated “Barbie” has stoked controversy in both Vietnam and the Philippines this week, with the former banning it outright and the latter considering a similar move.  

Over the years, Barbie manufacturer Mattel has come under fire for producing dolls that aren’t diverse and that some have said promote unrealistic body standards.

But now the brand has inadvertently strayed into geopolitical quarrels with the movie’s inclusion of Beijing’s controversial nine-dash line on a map. 

Vietnamese officials this week banned screenings of the film because it shows a map with the disputed Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. Manila is considering following suit.

The nine-dash line depicts Beijing’s contested claims to parts of the South China Sea. Vietnam, as well as Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan all dispute the line.  

An international tribunal at the Hague ruled in 2016 that the nine-dash line was invalid, but Beijing has not recognized the decision.  

Free expression experts say such bans won’t solve the territorial dispute and may help strengthen domestic censorship systems in the process. To others, the entire situation is being blown out of proportion.  

For years, questions have been raised over the extent to which American studios acquiesce to Beijing. And for Hollywood, the Chinese market, standing at 1.4 billion people, is lucrative.  

Vietnam and the Philippines have previously banned movies for including the nine-dash line, including Sony’s 2022 movie Uncharted, DreamWorks’ 2019 movie Abominable. Vietnam also banned the 2018 Australian TV series Pine Gap, and the Philippines censored select episodes.

Hanoi’s “Barbie” ban shows that “censors have started to be more sensitive about information on territorial disputes between Vietnam and China,” said Trinh Huu Long, the founder of the journalism and research group Legal Initiatives for Vietnam.  

“The censors will even be praised for overreacting to the unclear map, by both their superiors and the public, because anti-China sentiment runs deep into the country’s political culture,” added Long, who grew up in Vietnam but now lives in Taiwan.  

Still, some China experts think the Barbie movie’s alleged inclusion of the nine-dash line is not a pressing concern for either country.

“I don’t expect this to be more than a really incidental sort of thing,” said Rui Zhong, a China expert at the Wilson Center. “I don’t think either foreign ministry is losing sleep over the Barbie movie.

“The map has some waves drawn in the ocean and a sun over Africa, so I don’t really know the larger-scale geographical accuracy or implications,” Zhong told VOA. “I seriously doubt this is a film that will extensively wade into East or Southeast Asian politics.” 

China has so far been ignoring international law and building man-made islands in the South China Sea to help buttress its disputed sovereignty claims. 

But outright bans on films that may legitimize those claims still aren’t the best solution, according to Michael Caster, who covers Asia at the free expression group Article 19. 

“Maps are political, and borders often bear historical wounds, but rather than ensuring free and open discussion, the knee jerk response to censor seldom supports historical or transitional justice,” Caster told VOA. 

The film studio Warner Bros., for its part, has defended the Barbie movie’s map, which depicts eight dashes.

“The map in Barbie Land is a whimsical, child-like crayon drawing,” Warner Bros. said Friday. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the real world. It was not intended to make any type of statement.” 

For Long, the concern over Vietnam’s “Barbie” ban is that these sorts of prohibitions — related more to sovereignty and less to political dissent — ultimately make it easier for Hanoi to ban materials that actually might be critical of the government.  

“The government is surely using legitimate nationalist reasoning to strengthen its entire censorship system,” Long said.
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