Documentary on 1973 murder of Joan D'Alessandro to premiere at Ridgewood film festival

A short film about a Bergen County girl abducted and murdered near her home more than a half-century ago is making its New Jersey debut Thursday at the Ridgewood International Film Festival.

"Daughter of Mine," a documentary about the killing of 7-year-old Joan D'Alessandro in 1973, will premiere during the 13th annual festival, which was temporarily moved to Westwood this year.

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The film, created by Vanessa Martino, features interviews with Joan's mother, Rosemarie, about the case, including her fight to keep the killer behind bars and make changes to the justice system.

A brief promo for "Daughter of Mine," available on the film's website , features a zoom-in on a house, accompanied by Rosemarie D'Alessandro's voice.

"I knew that Joan had gone to that house," she says, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "I knew that something happened there, very bad. It's like she disappeared."

Joan was last seen alive selling Girl Scout cookies around her Hillsdale neighborhood on April 19, 1973, according to NorthJersey.com articles .

Joseph McGowan, a high school chemistry teacher who lived across the street, later admitted to beating, sexually assaulting and strangling the girl. Her body was found three days later, on Easter Sunday, in Harriman State Park in Rockland County, New York.

Joan's death, along with McGowan's parole eligibility two decades later, inspired her mother to become an advocate for victims' rights. In 1997, New Jersey passed Joan's Law , which eliminated the possibility of parole for anyone who kills a child under 14 years old in conjunction with sexual assault.

The D'Alessandro family also established Joan's Joy , a foundation that promotes child safety. Shortly after McGowan's death in 2021, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office unveiled "Rosemarie's Room," part of the office's Child Advocacy Center, where law enforcement, medical experts and mental health professionals can work together on investigating allegations of child sexual and physical abuse.

Tickets for the Ridgewood International Film Festival are available at filmfreeway.com/RidgewoodInternationalFilmFestival/tickets .

For more information, visit ridgewoodguildfilmfest.com .

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Documentary on 1973 murder of Joan D'Alessandro to premiere at Ridgewood film festival