The story of armed resistance by the Tibetans, many of whom settled in the Darjeeling hills, against the invading China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the late 1950s is set to premiere at the famed International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The English language film, Four Rivers Six Ranges, has been directed by Shenpenn Khymsar. It will be screened at the festival on February 1.

“We are thrilled to announce that Four Rivers Six Ranges has been selected to be premiered at the prestigious 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam on February 1,” Khymsar told The Telegraph.

The festival will be held from January 30 till February 9.

Set on a grand scale, the film is produced by Dorjee Wangdi Dewatshang and has Tenzin Dhondup and Thupten Chukatsang as the main actors.

“The film is also based on the book Flight at the Cuckoo’s Behest,” said Khymsar.

Flight at the Cuckoo's Behest: The Life and Times of a Tibetan Freedom Fighter is written by Kunga Samten Dewatshang.

Even though many scenes of the movie were shot at Mustang near the China border in Nepal, the film has a strong Darjeeling connect.

“Producer Dorjee Wangdi Dewatshang is a student of St Augustine’s School in Kalimpong, and so is one of the principal actors, Thupten Chukhatsang. In fact, the core team is from the Darjeeling hills,” said Khymsar.

Khymsar also grew up in Kurseong but is currently based in the US.

The Darjeeling-based crew members include editor Akhilesh Rai, production designer Mercy Simick Azem, art director Neden Yolmo and assistant director Daniel Rai, the director said.

The film on Tibetan nationalism is inspired by real stories.

“Many warriors raised an armed struggle against the Chinese occupation of Tibet from 1958. Many of the warriors later resettled in Darjeeling and passed away here,” said Khymsar.

Even though His Holiness Dalai Lama entered India from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh in 1959, many Tibetans would come to India through Kalimpong even earlier. Indo-Tibetan trade flourished through Kalimpong then.

Gyalo Thondup, one of the Dalai Lama’s brothers who fled Tibet in 1952 and played a key role in establishing links between the Tibetan government in exile and the wider world, largely based himself in Kalimpong.

Thondup had secured then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s assent to political asylum for the Dalai Lama in 1959.

The other works of Khymsar include Journey of a Dream (2011), Jigden the Beginning of the End (2017), Khorwa the Cycle (2018) and Broken Wings (2022).

Broken Wings, based against the backdrop of the 1986 Gorkhaland agitation, has not been released as it has run into legal hurdles over copyright issues.