A Savage Art chronicles the life and career of Australian-born, Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist Patrick Oliphant. Oliphant’s tenure as an American cartoonist spanned five decades and ten U.S. Presidents. In 1990 The New York Times called Oliphant “the most influential editorial cartoonist now working.” The film covers the history and importance of political cartoons in global democracies, as well as the decline in the profession and in the newspaper industry. It also highlights the effects of extreme political partisanship on media and editorial cartooning, and shows how Oliphant used his biting wit, sharp critical eye and masterful drawing skills to take on presidents, popes and the powers that be.

The process of political cartooning, absorbingly detailed in Banowsky’s film, is a multi-faceted procedure that requires the artist to be not only present but multiple steps ahead.
Coleman Spilde
Salon.com

Oliphant is the vehicle for the story, but there’s a bigger point here: that American politics, in particular, are built on a rich heritage of protest, of challenging authority, and that cartooning has been a part of that from the start.
Alissa Wilkinson
New York Times