2011 SXSW Interview: 'Fubar: Balls to the Wall' Takes on the Economy and Testicular Cancer

In 2001, a mockumentary called " Fubar " made its debut, telling the story of two Canadian friends, Terry (David Lawrence) and Dean (Paul Spence), as they searched for the meaning of life...and more beer. Nearly a decade later, Terry and Dean are back in "Fubar: Balls to the Wall," a sequel that deals with growing up and the harsh realities of testicular cancer.

The sequel opens with Dean celebrating five cancer-free years after his initial testicular cancer diagnosis in the first "Fubar." Tired of being broke, they take jobs in the Canadian Oil Patch . "We shot that film in Edmonton, and there are tons of these refineries north of Edmonton," said "Fubar" director Michael Dowse during a sit-down interview at SXSW 2011.

"And they are beautiful, like the ones in Houston here. You can't get close to them, though, because the oil companies hate cameras, all cameras. We were lucky to find the one, five-acre plot of land where you could still see the plants in the background, and the owner let us do whatever we wanted," he said.

Terry and Dean are not the rugged Canadian outdoorsmen that laying oil pipeline requires, but they still try to make good on a job offer from their buddy Tron (Andrew Sparacino). "When you grow up in Alberta, which is probably a lot like Texas, if you aren't going to University, you can start making $80,000 a year doing the pipeline," he said. "I know a lot of guys who did that, and they are probably going to retire when they are 45. They have been making so much money since they were 18. It's very lucrative thing."

During this interview, "Fubar: Balls to the Wall" stars David Lawrence and Paul Spence were scheduled to appear together, but Spence was stopped at Canadian border, reportedly for possessing a small quantity of hash. Lawrence soldiered on, though, appearing at SXSW 2011 with a cardboard cutout of Spence in character as 'The Deaner.'

In "Fubar: Balls to the Wall," Lawrence's character starts to change as soon as the oil money rolls in. He lands a girlfriend, applies for a credit card, and buys a house and a new truck. This leads to problems after he's laid off from his job. "A rule for a lot of the scriptwriting was to stay in the realm of something truthful. When we were writing, we were wondering what really might happen with these guys," Lawrence said.

"Even in the first scene of the film, people are wondering what the guys have been up to for the last 10 years. Nothing-exactly the same thing. From there, we wondered what would happen in Tron promised them a job. They got kicked out of their house, so they probably would drive up north looking for work. A lot of the writing was just trying to stay truthful," he said.

"Fubar" and "Fubar: Balls to the Wall" also deal with Dean's cancer, which comes back in the sequel. "I met a lot of fans who say 'I had testicle cancer and I love your movie, that you were able to sort of laugh at cancer a little bit,'" Lawrence said. "It's a heavy serious thing, and to be able to address it in a film and make fun of it, incorporate it, I think a lot of people appreciated that."