“Tickling Giants” is a documentary about the comedian (and ex-heart surgeon) Bassem Youssef. He was a TV show host in Egypt and decided to start his own comedy show because of the political issues going on in his country (Arab Spring).

The comedy show was controversial because he talked about freedom of expression and political pressure in a country where it is illegal to publicly slander the Egyptian president. People were angry at him. Even his own family couldn’t watch the show because he made fun of their former president Hosni Mubarak.

In Egypt, 30 million people watched every episode of his show. Since the show was so popular, the government asked for Youssef to be arrested. Many people even wanted him executed.

World Language Magnet students watched the movie for three days recently. On Monday it was with their magnet history teacher, on Tuesday with their magnet English teacher, and on Wednesday with their magnet language teacher.
“We are a global studies magnet and a documentary film is an engaging way to tackle global topics like girls’ education in Pakistan, garbage in the Pacific, or Revolution in Egypt,” said Ms Carolyn Willcox.