Premiering in tandem with London Challenge Poverty week, The World is Your Oyster gives a much needed voice to kids who have been robbed of a chance to speak up for themselves. “The transport system is a vital artery that connects different households, livelihoods and experiences.” That’s one of the lines from Alleycat’s latest film, The World is your Oyster: a poignant and compassionate response to the government’s call to scrap free travel in London for under 18’s – an egregious and unfair decision that was made as part of the Coronavirus TfL bailout in May, from which the hugely successful #DontZapTheZip hashtag and campaign was born. This situation compelled Alex Donaldson (who produced the film) to chat with teenagers via Twitter during lockdown. How do they feel about this? How is it going to affect them? In turn, this back and forth caught the eye of Alice Woudhuysen, a campaigner in London for the Child Poverty Action Group. Why not create something visual that would give young people back their voice, at a time when it has so blatantly been taken away from them? Production Company: Alleycat Films Director & Editor: Alex Donaldson DOP: Stephen Dunn Producer: Sam Ripman Young Voices: Mia Nelson, Tito Williams and Abi Hooper Colour: Connor Coolbear Sound Design: Tom Parker Graphic Design: Chris Nott Film Processing/Scan: On8Mil Additional Photography: Cian Oba Smith, Michele Argiolas, Emma Williams, Joe Curtis, Alex Donaldson, Stephen Dunn, Harkaran Gill and Brunel Johnson Thanks to: Alice Woudhuysen