Are Western film festivals focusing more on political films?

I made an animated drama short film and it wasn’t accepted into almost any festival. Even though I received very positive feedback from colleagues in the animation industry, I started questioning the quality of my short and felt like I had made a shit short film.

Then a production colleague suggested that I submit it to Japanese festivals, because, according to him, Western festivals have been ignoring most films that don’t address current political themes. I did that, and....my film has been accepted into almost every festival there, including Oscar-qualifying ones.

This makes me feel conflicted. On one hand, I’m sad because I really wanted to screen the film at a festival in my own country. On the other hand, it helped me put aside some of my doubts about the quality of the film.

Do you guys feel the same way about western film festivals?