The Institute for Policy Studies, in partnership with 2020 One Woman One Vote Festival invites you to the free advanced screening of OFFICIAL SECRETS, a true-life drama that stands alongside the best political thrillers; at its core, it’s about the consequences of doing the right thing and in the face of tremendous personal cost.

After the film will be a panel discussion with Oscar-winning director GAVIN HOOD, real-life whistleblower KATHARINE GUN, and journalist MARTIN BRIGHT. Moderator, PHYLLIS BENNIS, Program Director, Institute for Policy Studies.

Synopsis: Sixteen years ago, as the world was still grappling with the aftershocks of 9/11, politicians in the United States and Great Britain were angling for a motive to invade Iraq. On January 31, 2003, Katharine Gun, a 29-year-old translator at the British intelligence agency GCHQ, read a classified email that urged the blackmailing of United Nations members to ensure a yes vote on the controversial war resolution.

What Gun did next – leaking the email to the public and placing herself at enormous personal and professional risk – was one of the bravest acts of a whistleblower in the last two decades. OFFICIAL SECRETS, the urgent, meticulous new film from Oscar-winner Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition, Eye in the Sky), tells Gun’s overlooked story from multiple points of view, weaving in the media, legal, intelligence and political forces that formed like a gathering storm.

At the center of that storm was Gun herself, played in a coiled, steadfast performance by two-time Oscar nominee Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice, The Imitation Game, Colette). Knightley is surrounded by a rich ensemble that includes Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown), Matthew Goode (Brideshead Revisited, The Good Wife), Adam Bakri (Omar) and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, Snowden).

Runtime: 112 mins
Rating: R

This is a free screening. GET ADVANCE TICKETS NOW.