From Riverside to International Film Festivals: RCC Alumna Sarah Ruyle’s Animated Film Hungry Hollow Gains Global Recognition
A hand-painted animated film created with pen, paint, color pencil, and even stickers is now traveling the world’s film festival circuit. Hungry Hollow, an animated short created by Riverside City College alumna Sarah Ruyle, has been selected for screening at both the Slamdance Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying festival, and the New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival in Hokkaido, Japan.
The selections mark an exciting milestone for the emerging animator whose creative journey includes time studying animation at Riverside City College during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hungry Hollow tells a quiet, dreamlike story set in nature. The film centers on a girl lying still in the woods as small fairies gather and play around her while she dreams, blending themes of magic, stillness, and imagination. Ruyle created the film during her senior year at the Rhode Island School of Design using entirely traditional materials.
“I really like nature and magic, and I think this film was me yearning for a world beyond ours,” Ruyle explained about the inspiration behind the project.
Being selected to screen at international festivals came as a welcome surprise for the young filmmaker. While Slamdance is widely recognized for launching independent filmmakers and is considered an Oscar-qualifying festival, Ruyle found particular joy attending the New Chitose festival, which focuses specifically on animation.
“I’ve heard these festivals can get pretty competitive due to the amount of submissions they receive, so I’ve been beyond thrilled that my degree film was screened in Los Angeles and all the way in Hokkaido, Japan,” she said.
Before attending one of the nation’s leading art schools, Ruyle spent her gap year studying animation at Riverside City College, where she credits the program with helping shape her early creative foundation.
“I spent my gap year at RCC during COVID and took animation practices, storyboarding, and animation production,” Ruyle said. “My introduction to animation and much of my foundation came during my time at RCC, and I still employ those skills every day.”
She also credits the mentorship she received from RCC animation professor Will Kim, whose encouragement helped her develop confidence as an artist.
“Will Kim was probably one of the most encouraging professors ever. Having that kind of inspiration early in my filmmaking had a very positive impact on me.”
Ruyle describes the RCC art community as a space that encourages experimentation and creativity, an environment that allowed her to develop her own artistic voice.
“The art department at RCC is a really diverse and special place,” she said. “It encouraged me to think outside the box and break rules when I started making animations later at university.”
While film festival recognition is exciting, Ruyle says the greatest success was simply completing a film that felt authentic to her creative vision.
“I try not to put the weight of success on which film festivals I get into,” she said. “The real success was completing a film at all and that it felt very true to myself.”
For students currently studying animation at Riverside City College, Ruyle offers encouragement to continue exploring their creative ideas and to keep submitting their work to festivals.
Her story reflects the impact that community college programs can have on emerging artists, providing a supportive environment where students can experiment, develop their skills, and begin the journeys that lead them onto international stages.