The cast and creative team behind Desperate Journey have revealed to GB News the intense emotional and historical weight of recreating Nazi-occupied Paris for the new WWII thriller based on the true story of Freddie Knoller.
Set in the 1940s, the film follows young Freddie as he flees Vienna, becomes stranded in Paris, and is forced to navigate the city’s dangerous underworld while surrounded by Nazi officers.
Blending romance, survival and historical drama, the offers a human portrait of resilience in a brutal era marked by political extremism.
Spanish actor Fernando Guallar, 36, who plays Christos in the film, said the experience of filming in recreated occupied Paris struck a deep personal chord.
Desperate Journey cast at the November Premiere in Leicester Square
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“Well, for me, I mean, I did study in a German school, I am very, very connected with German history and everything that happened in these awful years,” he said.
Referring to playing Christos in the film, he said: “He has to survive, but he also has his point of view of everything that’s going on… there’s something inside of you that is saying, hey, this is not okay, you really need to do something to help the others.”
Despite the film’s dark themes, Mr Guallar said the cast still found moments of levity on set. “I had a very strong and funny connection with Lucas and with Clara… we had so much fun.”
Composer Ilan Eshkeri, 48, who crafted the film’s emotional score, said the music was shaped around the heart of Freddie’s story.
Dominic Allburn on the red carpet
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“The first idea for the film was the love theme… I think love is what drives the whole story all the way through,” he said.
Reflecting on the film’s relevance, he added: “Given everything that’s going on in the world, I think it’s good for us to look at what happened in World War II and to understand that.”
Actress Anna Mawn, 28, who plays Freddie Knoller’s first love interest, Aiva, said the film’s themes feel strikingly close to current global tensions.
“World War two was less than 100 years ago, and we have very short memories,” she said. “We’re living in a world where there are still people who are living in fear and are displaced from their homes… stories like this serve as a reminder of what can happen when extreme rhetoric goes unchecked.”
Ilan Eshkeri composed the score for Desperate Journey
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The film’s director, Annabel Jankel, echoed this sentiment, warning that divisions seen in the 1940s echo present-day concerns.
“The rise of the right, its divisive, is racism, is anti-semitism,” she said.
“I think that young people, especially, you know, is a good opportunity to expose them to a story of a young person and what they had to go through and ultimately how they survived.”
Actor George Sear, who plays the part of Eric Knoller, said what struck him most was the surreal duality of occupied Paris.
“I think what was kind of incredible about that time period is you have this like underworld of people still really living their lives and going to burlesque clubs and trying to really get their sort of zest out of life whilst on top of that, it’s occupied by the Nazis and it’s this crazy struggle to survive and watch you’re back all the time,” he said.
The actor continued: “…Desperate journey draws on real events, as based on a true story and shows how political tensions can escalate into violence.”
Dominic Allburn, who plays one of the film’s antagonists, said researching the role revealed unsettling parallels with modern times.
“It was quite scary to realise just how close it was to what’s going on in the world today,” he told GB News. “The mistakes of the past that led to that, the exact same things going on today.”
He said he hopes audiences feel empowered rather than overwhelmed.
Fernando Guallar at the Desperate Journey premiere
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“It’s not really about teaching them… but realising that every single person can make a difference.”
Lead actor Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, who plays Freddie Knoller, admitted he initially struggled with the weight of portraying a real Holocaust survivor.
“It’s so difficult… who am I to portray a man who went through horrors like this?” he said. “But this is a really important story and someone has to do it.”
He said the real Knoller’s family helped keep him grounded throughout filming. “Freddie Knoller’s family was really supportive… that made me very calm and acceptive of the situation,” he said.
Mr Tønnesen also shared a moment on set he will never forget, involving a fragile moth landing on his hand during a scene about hope.
“It kept on being there… and that, I think, was really special.”
Before the London premiere, Ms Jankel addressed the audience with a message about memory and responsibility.
“The past is actually as important as the present… stories of survivors that haven’t been yet told will be told by each generation.”
The director added a plea for audiences to carry the story forward.
“This is a good reminder for the world to know that we’ve done this before, and let’s not keep doing it.”