KEIRA Knightley stars in Official Secrets as brave whistleblowing translator Katharine Gun who “wanted to stop bombs dropping on Iraq”.
So what’s the story behind the film – which delves into espionage – that opened in cinemas from October 18?
What is the true story behind the Keira Knightley film Official Secrets?
The Times describes Keira Knightley’s new film as a “whistleblower drama about dubious intelligence operations on the eve of the 2003 Iraq war”.
Official Secrets is based on the actions of Brit Katharine Gun, who revealed that America had been eavesdropping on diplomats from other countries.
She was the real-life translator who photocopied a US memo demanding Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) help sway the UN to back strikes against Iraq in 2003.
Gun was working as a translator of Mandarin at the government’s communications headquarters in the early 2000s.
While there, Gun leaked a confidential United States National Security Agency email in 2003, exposing illegal activities to the Observer – giving the paper a massive scoop.
The top secret memo proved that the UK and US governments were in collusion over spying on countries that were wavering in their support for the war.
After the information hit the front pages of newspapers, Gun – then aged 27 – confessed and was subsequently arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act.
The Guardian explains that America was keen to gain “an edge in leveraging support” for the invasion of Iraq.
Speaking to the publication ahead of the film’s release, Gun, who now lives in Turkey after rebuilding her life, explained: “The memo was like this big red flag as soon as I saw it.
“I felt this information was explosive, it needed to get out.
“Truth always matters at the end of the day.”
Martin Bright, the Observer’s investigative reporter who broke the news of Gun’s leaked memo, is played in the film by Matt Smith.
He said: “It’s very important that the truth about what happened in the run up to the Iraq War is finally getting its day in the sun in this way.
“And cinema can do something that newspapers can’t do, which is bring this to a very, very wide public.
“I think the role of whistleblowers has changed following the Iraq War and following 9/11.
“There were a number of whistleblowers who came forward and they now form a kind of network of trust so we are in a different position to where we were before, where Katharine was incredibly isolated.”
At the film’s premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Gun told the Press Association that it was “great that it’s been 16 years after the event, because I can finally talk about it without breaking down or having stress and strain about it.”
