IndieWire’s 2022 Film Festival Acquisitions Guide: All This Season’s Buys

Here’s IndieWire’s list of all acquisitions for the 2022 fall festival season as they roll in.

Below is IndieWire’s list of all acquisitions for the 2022 fall festival season, documented as they roll in with the most recent on top. All are listed with the film’s title, the festival(s) where it screened, the buyer, and when the acquisition was announced. All rights are for North America unless otherwise noted.

The fall festival season is upon us, with the Venice Film Festival kicking off a buzzy few months on August 31, followed by Telluride, Toronto, NYFF, and AFI, among many more. That means that buyers are already lining up to scoop titles, whether for awards season release or into next year.

Many of this year’s most-anticipated fall festival premieres are already entering the pack with studio backing in place, from “The Whale” (A24) to “Bardo” (Netflix), “Blonde” (Netflix) to “Bones and All” (MGM/United Artists Releasing), “Don’t Worry Darling” (Warner Bros.) to “Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures), and “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures), “The Son” (Sony Pictures Classics”), and “Women Talking” (United Artists).

That means the fall festivals prove an opportunity for movies without a home to make a splash. Already, a few buzzy titles have been picked up for release, including the Hillary Clinton-produced Afghanistan documentary “In Her Hands,” “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae’s directorial debut “Hunt” (which first premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight), and Lars von Trier’s five-part miniseries “The Kingdom Exodus,” the followup to his cult-status 1990s Danish series.

There is much for buyers and audiences to see over the next few months, and while lineups for Venice, TIFF, and NYFF are now in place, we’ll see some surprises at Telluride, famously hush-hush about its program until the Labor Day weekend kick-off.

Follow along below for all the updates out of the fall festivals as they roll in.

“Blue Jean”

Festival: Venice
Buyer: Magnolia Pictures
Acquisition Date: September 11

“In Her Hands”

Festival: TIFF
Buyer: Netflix
Acquisition Date: August 22

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

Festivals: Venice, TIFF, NYFF
Buyer: Neon
Acquisition Date: August 18

“The Worst Ones”

Festivals: Cannes, TIFF
Buyer: Kino Lorber
Acquisition Date: August 17

“Hunt”

Festivals: Cannes, TIFF
Buyer: Magnolia Pictures
Acquisition Date: August 15

“Scarlet”

Festivals: Cannes, NYFF
Buyer: Kino Lorber
Acquisition Date: August 10

“The Lost King”

Festival: TIFF
Buyer: IFC Films
Acquisition Date: August 10

“Walk Up”

Festivals: TIFF, NYFF
Buyer: Cinema Guild
Acquisition Date: August 8

“The Kingdom Exodus”

Festivals: Venice, TIFF, NYFF
Buyer: Mubi
Acquisition Date: July 27