Tickling Giants

Documentary Competition

World Premiere

USA | 111 MINUTES | Arabic, English | English subtitles

TICKLING GIANTS

Female Director(s), Documentary, NY Director(s), Female Screenwriter(s)
Bassem Youssef faced an unusual choice in 2011: heart surgeon or full-time satirist. The established doctor picked the unexpected path and it would make him one of the most famous men in the Arab world and earn him the nickname “the Jon Stewart of Egypt.” Charting Youssef’s rise and career as Egypt’s most famous television presenter, Tickling Giants offers a rousing celebration of free speech, showcasing the power of satire to speak for the people and against a repressive government. This story differs from the familiar American success of Stewart and Stephen Colbert: Youssef’s jokes come with serious, dangerous, at times revolutionary consequences.

With a precise documentary eye, Daily Show Senior Producer Sara Taksler captures the strength and fragility that color Youssef’s life on and off screen, as well as the courage of the coworkers who stand by him. She celebrates satire as a tool with a greater use than the extraction of a laugh, positioning the genre as both a weapon against fear and an instrument of democracy for those in desperate pursuit of freedom. As one of Youssef’s researchers puts it, “It’s my right to express how I feel.”

—Cara Cusumano

CAST & CREDITS

Directed by Sara Taksler

Sara Taksler is a Senior Producer at The Daily Show. She directed and produced the feature documentary, TWISTED: A Balloonamentary, about the world’s premier balloon-twisting convention. Taksler can talk backwards and has a remarkable fake sneeze. Sara’s favorite way of Tickling Giants: Using comedy to work through problems.
Director
Sara Taksler
Screenwriter
Sara Taksler
Producer
Sara Taksler, Frederic Rose, Maziar Bahari, Monica Hampton
Editor
Jamie Canobbio, Tyler H. Walk, Thomas M. Vogt
Executive Producer
Technicolor, Hassan Elmasry
Composer
Paul Tyan
Animations based on cartoons by
Andeel
Cast
Bassem Youssef, Jon Stewart, Andeel, Miral El Desoki, Tarek AlQazzaz, Hend Radwan

CONTACTS

Print Source
Sarkasmos Productions
info@TicklingGiants.com
Press Contact
Josh Baran
Baran Strategies
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212 779 2666
jcbaran@gmail.com
US Sales Contact
John Sloss
Cinetic Media
New York, NY 10004
Phone: 2122047979
john@slosslaw.com