FAKE news is used to justify war against Iraq in a political thriller due to be screened in Keighley this month.

Official Secrets it is a docu-drama based on the true story of a British intelligence specialist who turned whistleblower after being drawn into international intrigue.

Katharine Gun was working at GCHQ, routinely handling classified information, when she saw a request from the US National Security Agency seeking assistance.

The Americans wanted to collect compromising information on members of the UN Security Council in order to blackmail them into voting for a second resolution in favour of invading Iraq.

In effect, the NSA was asking Gun to spy on UNSC delegates to approve the resolution for war.

In the film, Gun feels she cannot ignore this and watch the world be rushed into an illegal war, so she decides to defy the Official Secrets Act and tell the public by leaking the memo to the Observer newspaper.

The memo hits the front page but endangers Gun and her Kurdish Turk husband Yasar as a result.

The film stars Keira Knightley (Atonement, Collette) as Katharine, Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game, Belle) as Peter Beaumont, Matt Smith (Doctorr Who, The Crown) as Martin Bright, Adam Bakri as Yasar Gun, and Rhysl Ifans as Ed Vulliany.

The director is Gavin Hood who also directed contemporary thrillers Rendition and Eye in the Sky.

Official Secrets received its world premiere at last year's Sundance Film Festival 2019 and went on to secure four awards and four nominations at other film festivals.

Most shooting took place in Yorkshire including Bradford City Hall and Boston Spa.

Reviewers commented on Knightley's powerful performance, and Hood was praised for the film's continual tension and for highlighting the immorality of the state.

Keighley Film Club spokesman Allan Watkinson said: "The film tries to resolve the eternal dilemma of whether state employees can act on behalf of the people or the government, and the latter's vested interests.

"After Gun's legal team threaten to reveal the state's behaviour in court, the prosecution of her is quietly changed."

Official Secrets will be screened at Keighley Picture House, North Street, on Sunday January 19 at 6pm. Doors open at 5.35pm.