St. Pete Filmmaker Revisits Three Mothers, Their Families Over 30 Years For Documentary

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Nearly 30 years ago, filmmaker and photographer Luci Westphal borrowed a VHS camcorder to document three young single mothers in Gainesville who had formed a punk band and won an anti-government song contest.

“Really, it was a ‘[expletive] the government’ song contest,” the St. Petersburg artist told Patch.

She never imagined that project would become a three-decade chronicle of motherhood, family and the changing American experience, and her greatest passion project.

Now, Westphal is completing what she believes will be the final chapter of “All's Well and Fair,” a documentary that follows those three women, their children and now their grandchildren over the course of 30 years.

To finish the film, she's raising funds through Kickstarter to cover travel, equipment and production costs.

"I couldn't explain why I wanted to keep coming back every 10 years," she said. "Now I realize it was always about how people create a good life for themselves and pass those values on to the next generation."

The project began in 1996 while Westphal, then a student at Santa Fe College, was living in Gainesville. She filmed three single mothers — Rachel, Margo and Tina — after they created a punk band called Dioxin Dolly to write a one-off song for the contest.

At the time, all three women were raising children while living on welfare during the same year federal welfare reform was reshaping public assistance.

"What I saw were incredibly capable, creative women raising thoughtful, compassionate children despite the stereotypes surrounding them," Westphal said.

Rather than documenting their lives continuously, Westphal returned every decade, filming intensive follow-up interview sessions in 2006, 2016 and now 2026.

That approach has unintentionally captured the backdrop of modern American history, she said.

The families reflect on events including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Pulse nightclub shooting, the COVID-19 pandemic and the country's shifting political climate, while viewers also see how cities, neighborhoods and generations have changed.

The original children featured in the documentary are now adults in their thirties. Some even now have children of their own, making the film a portrait spanning three generations.

"What started as a documentary about three women has become a story about mothers, daughters and grandchildren," Westphal said. "It's really about how values move through generations."

The filmmaker said each decade has revealed something different.

In their twenties, the women were focused on surviving and raising young children. Then in their thirties and forties, the conversations she had with them shifted toward careers, stability and identity. Now, in their fifties, discussions include aging, menopause, changing perspectives and what legacy means.

Westphal believes those evolving conversations have become the heart of the documentary.

"I think these women helped lay the groundwork for the next generation of women," she said. "They're examples of people who built meaningful lives and raised children who are now doing the same."

The latest and fourth round of filming recently began in Gainesville during a reunion surrounding a family memorial. Additional interviews are planned in North Carolina and Alaska, where members of the featured families now live.

A recently released trailer for the documentary unexpectedly went viral on social media, drawing thousands of views and comments from viewers who connected with the story, Westphal said.

Encouraged by the response, Westphal launched a Kickstarter campaign with an initial goal of $5,000 to purchase camera equipment and begin filming. The campaign reached that milestone within 72 hours, allowing the project to move forward, though she hopes to raise about $9,400 to complete travel and production for the film.

"It's been incredibly moving," she said. "People I've known throughout different chapters of my life are supporting this project. It reminds me that this story has been growing alongside all of us."

Westphal expects this to be the final installment of “All's Well and Fair,” bringing together footage collected over three decades into a single feature documentary.

"I've always said this would be the last one," she said. "Although one of the daughters just laughed and said, 'We've heard that before.'"

For now, though, Westphal is focused on completing the story she began as a young filmmaker with a borrowed camera nearly 30 years ago.

"It turns out this was never just about documenting where these families ended up," she said. "It was about showing how ordinary people shape the future through the lives they build every day."