Part of Bijou Film Forum series. Bijou films are free for UI Students and $5 for the general public.

DIALOGUE: Panel discussion to follow the screening with Frank Durham (Associate Professor, Journalism & Mass Communications), Travis Vogan (Associate Professor, Journalism & Mass Communications) & Josh Voorhees (Senior Writer, Slate Magazine).

"A lively document of an engaging --and insanely entertaining --intellectual rivalry." -Globe and Mail

"Hugely entertaining. A must-view film for our media-besotted age." -The Wall Street Journal

"Tremendously entertaining. It's rare that we get to see a specific moment in time that could be the origin of much of our current reality." -Slash Film

In the summer of 1968, television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley, Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist. Armed with deep-seated distrust and enmity, Vidal and Buckley believed each other's political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult-cementing their opposing political positions. Their explosive exchanges devolved into vitriolic name-calling. It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News' ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born--a highbrow blood sport that marked the dawn of pundit television as we know it today.

BEST OF ENEMIES will return  theweek of 9/25 for a regular engagement following this special presentation for Bijou Film Forum.