Batman and Me, a Melbourne-made documentary that delves into the darker side of collecting, has been selected to feature in the world-renowned Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival, held annually in California. This year called CINEJOY featuring the Official CINEQUEST Films, Artists, and Events, the event will showcase more than 300 films from over 50 countries.
Fresh from a successful run at the 2020 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, Batman and Me is the work of local filmmakers Michael Wayne and Andrew Martyn, who take a very close – and sometimes uncomfortable – look into the Batman collection of Darren “Dags” Maxwell, and the bizarre story behind it.
“When I first discovered that there was a guy in Melbourne who had one of Australia’s largest Batman collections yet claimed to have no interest in it, I was naturally intrigued,” says writer/director Michael Wayne.

Taking almost 5 years to complete, the film probes Darren on everything from his addictive personality to his partners’ reactions to his collecting, and why, decades after starting and stopping his collection, he is still unable to let it go. A Batman fan himself, Wayne says that he could empathise with Dags – to a point.
“Dags’ passion for the subject matter didn’t seem to measure up to the obsessive extent of his collecting, and his adamant statements that he’d left collecting behind weren’t entirely convincing,” Wayne commented “I really wanted to get inside the mind of someone who could be so focused and passionate for so many years, and then claim to be able to just switch it off. To me, it sounded more like a tale of addiction.”

Wayne’s journalistic senses were right, and in the years from 2014-2019, he and his filmmaking partner Martyn immersed themselves in Darren’s strange, sometimes confusing, and often contradictory world of collecting. Hours of interviews and candid conversations with Darren, along with interviews with his wife, and his best friend (also a pop culture collector) shed light but also add to the complex issues that Batman & Me brings to life.
Flickers of insight into Darren’s early years and a few seemingly throwaway references to addiction raise uncomfortable questions for viewers that Darren himself is willing to tackle. As a result, Batman and Me presents some concerning conclusions about why some people find themselves obsessively collecting – regardless of what it is that they collect.

Shot using a compelling mix of iPhone footage, fitting live-action animation, and Darren’s own archives, the filmmakers also take the conversation wider, visiting pop culture festivals, comic cons and collectors’ fairs for an illuminating variety of takes on the topic. It is this combination of documentary-style story-telling and investigative filmmaking that attracted Cinequest to Batman and Me, the themes of which sit with the viewer for much longer than its 90-minute run time.

With a reputation as a discovery event, CINEJOY marks Cinequest’s 30th anniversary and as well as featuring the Cinequest films, will include additional creative experiences such as virtual and augmented realities, fashion, writing, television, and a creativity summit. The festival has been voted Best Film Festival by USA Today readers and (pre-COVID) attracts over 110,000 people from around the world.
CINEJOY will take place online from 11-14 October (12-15 Australia time), with Australian viewers able to join live stream events by visiting the website