Keira Knightley is the first Western actress to get a fan base inside the reclusive nation, as a special state screening of Bend it Like Beckham gets aired.

The impossible to believe screening of the first Western film ever to be released in North Korea comes at the end of the most turbulent year for the two Koreas since the 1953 armistice. Earlier this month US, South Korean and Japanese military forces executed the largest peace time drills since the war, in a show of force against the communist state that shelled a South Korean Island, which killed civilians.

While the film was edited down to an hour, it contains themes that are largely considered taboo such as homosexuality and religion.

Bend it Like Beckham was confirmed on North Korean TV after the British Ambassador to South Korea affirmed the Embassy had made the screening possible.

Bend It Like Beckham

Starring Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, this British indie classic touched topics very close to home and became a cult hit, propelling Keira Knightley to fame in 2002. She subsequently starred in Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.