THE ELK (2026) 30 min. — After nearly six years in storage, a beloved elk sculpture returns to an American city still reckoning with its recent history.

As protests consumed Portland, Oregon in 2020, the city removed a beloved elk sculpture for safekeeping. Six years later, the elk is the first of the city’s damaged monuments to return, and the only sculpture without controversy. But in a city that never really stopped protesting, people remain divided over why the elk went away—and what it means for the dinged but refurbished symbol to finally return. Set in an American city reckoning with its symbols of Westward expansion, the unfolding fate of the elk and other monuments tells the story of a nation divided over who and what belongs on a pedestal.

The Elk is directed by journalist Erika Bolstad of Portland. It’s a standalone spinoff project of Monumental, a feature-length documentary in production in 2026 and 2027. Contact Erika at makingmonumental@gmail.com.

UPCOMING SCREENINGS OF THE ELK:

• Sept. 25-26: NoID Film Festival. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

• Sept. 27: Ames Documentary Festival. Ames Public Library, Iowa.

• Oct. 25: Whitsell Auditorium, Portland Art Museum. 4 p.m. The screening will be followed by a walking tour of The Elk and other monument sites nearby.‍ ‍Free, but registration is required.

PAST SCREENINGS:

• April 18, 2026: Portland Panorama Film Festival. Noon, McMenamins Kennedy School.

• Aug. 7: 4:15 p.m., Portland Building.

• Aug. 14-16: Wild Rivers Film Festival, 4 p.m. Friday; Noon Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, Chetco Playhouse.

• Aug. 21: Portland Festival of Cinema and Technology. 6 p.m., OMSI. WINNER, BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• Sept. 10: Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture. 6 p.m., Sisters, Ore. Free.

Detail from the original film poster by Jen Sbragia.