On the morning of January 8, 2020, two Iranian missiles downed a plane on the outskirts of Tehran, Ukrainian flight PS752. Yet Another Leap Year forms a visual and psychological investigation of this shooting, focusing on the time of its occurrence and its aftermath connecting it to pain – both of the human soul and body throughout time.

Rajaei was guided by the writing of Susan Sontag on pain and photography, considering how we observe pain in others. As such, she sheds light on the violence without directly representing it, helping us as viewers to see and feel the point of view of the victims. Yet Another Leap Year is constructed economically and concisely, using audiovisual material documenting the plane shooting sourced from the internet, paired with a powerful spoken narrative and control tower audio published by the Ukrainian authorities as a haunting spectral voice. Rajaei carefully isolated objects from photographs taken of the wreckage. Leaving out people, items like a child’s red shoe and a burnt book take the place of bodies, falling slowly against the darkness.

Yet Another Leap Year is one of three films screened as part of Sara Rajaei: In Focus and will be followed by a conversation with the filmmaker.

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