Global streaming platform Netflix has removed the Chinese-produced drama series “Flight to You” from its service in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government banned the series on similar grounds to its objection to the upcoming Warner Bros. Film “Barbie.”

“As a result of the Vietnamese regulator banning elements of the series, we have removed ‘Flight to You’ from Netflix in Vietnam. It remains available on our service in other markets,” a Netflix spokesperson told Variety in an emailed statement.

Both “Barbie” and “Flight to You” are understood to have included scenes that show a map of the South China Sea that depicts the “nine dash line” that represents China’s territorial claim to almost all of the area. Vietnam says that use of the map violates its sovereignty and that it will not tolerate the “nine dash line” in film and TV.

Warner Bros. last week denied that the map shown in “Barbie” is the “nine dash line” and said that it is instead a childish scribble. “The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for Warner Bros. told Variety. “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.”

After pressure from the country’s senate, the Philippines’ film censorship board said last week that it is reviewing “Barbie” over the map scene. It has not yet announced its decision.

The case of “Flight to You” appears more clear-cut. Vietnamese state-backed media said that Vietnam’s Cinema Department had reviewed all 39 episodes of the series and found the “nine dash line” depicted in Episodes 18, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26 , 27, 30 and 38.

The department ordered Netflix and carrier FPT Telecom JSC to remove the show within 24 hours and to confirm their compliance.

The show, about a woman who dreams of becoming captain at a fictional airline, is produced by leading Chinese drama house Huace. It is available on rival Chinese streamers iQiyi and Tencent Video and was nominated for best TV series at the annual Chinese TV Drama Ceremony. Lead Tan Songyun won the CMG best breakthrough actress award.

Korean pop act Blackpink also had a near collision with Vietnamese authorities last week. The girl group is scheduled to play two concerts in Hanoi on July 29 and 30. On Wednesday, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture and Information said it was starting “procedures to look into the incident.” That was a reference to a map reportedly with a “nine dash line” discovered on the website of iME, the Beijing-based promoter of the concerts. iME quickly apologized.

“The image of the map on the website does not represent the territory of any country and we are aware of respecting the sovereignty and culture of all the countries where iME has a presence,” the company said in a statement. “iME quickly reviewed and committed to replace the images that are not suitable for Vietnamese.”

The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all make territorial claims in the South China Sea. Vietnam and China briefly fought a war in 1988 over the Spratley Islands or Truong Sa, an archipelago of islets, reefs and cays in the strategically important and mineral rich area.

In 2016, a United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) disputes resolution tribunal in The Hague ruled unanimously against the validity of the “nine dash line.” However, while the South China Sea Arbitration decision is final and binding, there are no clear mechanisms for its implementation. 

China has said it does not recognize the tribunal decision. China also claims Taiwan as its own territory, with which it will be united by force, if necessary, and explains therefore that Taiwan cannot have sovereignty.

Veteran Swedish star Stellan Skarsgård, who plays villain Baron Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” – part two of which will be released in November – will be honoured by the Locarno Film Festival with its Leopard Club Award.

Skarsgård, who started his Hollywood career working with top directors such as Steven
Spielberg in “Amistad” (1997) and Gus Van Sant in “Good Will Hunting,” the same year, and segued to memorable roles in Gore Verbinsky’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and in “Mamma Mia!,” among other films. He is being feted by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema with its Leopard Club Award dedicated to a film industry artist who has made a “mark on the collective imagination.”

Outside Hollywood, Skarsgård’s stellar career comprises groundbreaking work in European cinema working with directors such as Lars von Trier with whom he has made five films starting with “Breaking The Waves,” which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1996.

Skarsgård is also very active in television. In 2019 he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a miniseries for his role in HBO drama “Chernobyl.” He recently starred in Tony Gilroy’s hit “Star Wars” spinoff “Andor” for Disney+, the second season of which he has just finished shooting.

Besides making the trek to accept the career award, Stellan Skarsgård and his son Gustaf Skarsgård, will also be coming to Locarno to present Chinese artist-turned-filmmaker Huang Ran’s crime drama “What Remains” which is screening out-of-competition. He will also be holding an onstage conversation.

The festival will screen a film personally chosen by the actor to represent his career: the 1990 Holocaust drama “Good evening, Mr. Wallenberg” by Swedish helmer Kjell Grede.

“Stellan Skarsgård belongs to the tradition of European actors who have distinguished themselves between auteur cinema and Hollywood,” said Locarno fest chief Giona A. Nazzaro in a statement.

“Endowed with a very powerful stage charisma, he has been able to make every role he has played unforgettable,” Nazzaro added.

Previous recipients of Locarno’s Leopard Club Award include Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Andy Garcia, Stefania Sandrelli, Adrien Brody, Meg Ryan, Hilary Swank, Kasia Smutniak and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

The 76th edition of Locarno will run Aug. 2-12

DISNEY+ ASIA SLATE TAKES SHAPE

Disney+ has set an Aug. 9 upload date for Korean series “Moving” from webtoon pioneer Kang Full.

The previously announced title forms part of a 20-component slate of films and series from East Asia that will release on the Disney-backed streaming platform in the second half of 2023 and through 2024.
Also from Korea is “The Worst of Evil,” a detective series in which a rural policemen is brought to the big city to bring down a DJ dealing in a potent new drug. It stars Ji Changwook, “Squid Game” actor Wi Hajun and Lim Semi.

Highlights from Japan include “Tokyo Revengers: Tenjiku Arc,” the latest instalments of a popular anime franchise, and the previously announced “Dragons of Wonderhatch,” a hybrid story set in both the “real world” and an anime land where dragons and humans coexist. The multi-dimensional story stars Nakajima Sena, Okudaira Daiken and Mackenyu.

The year 2023 is set to be rounded off with music docu-series “NCT 127: The Lost Boys,” Japanese anime “Synduality Noir” and an all-new ice show performance by Japanese ice-skater Yuzuru Hanyu. In 2024 new releases will include Korean-produced “A Shop For Killers” and “Red Swan,” and Japan’s “House of the Owl” and “Murai In Love.”

AFTER BURNER

The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and Netflix have announced the first three recipients to be supported by the Netflix Indigenous Scholarship Fund. The fund provides A$515,000 ($342,000) from Netflix for a range of initiatives to elevate Indigenous creatives and voices in the Australian screen and broadcast industries, and support Australia’s First Nations communities and storytellers. The first three AFTRS Netflix First Nations Scholarships were awarded on the basis of creative excellence to:  Nazareth Manar Alfred (Master of Arts Screen: Directing); Dylan Marcus Nicholls (Master of Arts Screen: Documentary); and Samantha Alexis Laughton ( Master of Arts Screen: Business ). The scholarships will assist with the full cost of course fees, plus a contribution towards travel, accommodation and living expenses. The scholarships’ selection panel was chaired by AFTRS Council member Tanya Hosch and included representatives from AFTRS, Netflix, Screen West and Create Victoria.

MOE NORMAN, NOT GREG NORMAN

Australian director Bruce Beresford (“Driving Miss Daisy,” Mao’s Last Dancer”) has been signed by producer David Carver Films to direct “The Place I Belong,” the story of Moe Norman. The film is a human-interest journey set against an uplifting sports story and follows the rise of the socially misfit savant and self-taught amateur golfer, Moe Norman, from caddie and bowling alley pinsetter to playing The Masters and on the professional golf tour. Sadly, Norman’s eccentric and misunderstood behavior led to his being bullied out of the sport he loved.  He became an unknown legend, playing and winning smaller tournaments and setting course records but living hand to mouth, sometimes sleeping in his car or in sand traps at the courses he played.

Beresford joins executive producers David Steinberg and Robyn Todd and coproducers Wayne and Janet Gretzky on the biopic. The production begins filming spring of 2024. The screenplay is written by Carver, Mark Bergen, Josh Schorr and Todd Korgan, based on previous versions by Joshua Michael Stern, David Lee Miller and Eric Adams.

“As a non-golfer, when I received the script, I thought I would read a few pages then politely pass.  My prejudice disintegrated a few pages in. The central character is delightfully eccentric. The story of Moe’s amazing life and career and of those around him, is told with humor, compassion, sophistication and depth,” said Beresford.