Official Secrets

Friday, August 30 - Thursday, October 10, 2019

The Q&A at the Thu Aug 29 sneak preview is moderated by Rose Asaf, an organizer with CODEPINK, the anti-war women’s organization that is working to put an end to US-funded militarism around the world.

She risked everything to stop an unjust war. Her government called her a traitor. Based on world-shaking true events, OFFICIAL SECRETS tells the gripping story of Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley), a British intelligence specialist whose job involves routine handling of classified information. One day in 2003, in the lead up to the Iraq War, Gun receives a memo from the NSA with a shocking directive: the United States is enlisting Britain’s help in collecting compromising information on United Nations Security Council members in order to blackmail them into voting in favor of an invasion of Iraq. Unable to stand by and watch the world be rushed into an illegal war, Gun makes the gut-wrenching decision to defy her government and leak the memo to the press. So begins an explosive chain of events that will ignite an international firestorm, expose a vast political conspiracy, and put Gun and her family directly in harm’s way.

Official selection: Sundance Film Festival


  • Country UK/USA
  • Running Time 112 minutes
  • Distributor IFC in Theatres, LLC
  • Director Gavin Hood
  • Writer Gregory Bernstein (screenplay), Sara Bernstein (screenplay), Gavin Hood (screenplay), Marcia Mitchell (original book), Thomas Mitchell (original book)
  • Editor Megan Gill
  • Cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister
  • Cast Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Indira Varma, Rhys Ifans

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.