 Filmmaker and author Tsitsi Dangarembga has cited patriarchal biases in the film industry and African society as reasons why African women in particular struggle as filmmakers.Scholar Nancy Schmidt has further noted in 1997 that at the time there were only recently online platforms, publications, filmographies or bibliographies that acknowledged all the feature films, documentaries, shorts and works in video, television, and digital media that African women have directed over the past several decades.Non-profit organizations have been formed to help address these issues and promote African women in film and television, such as the Ladima Foundation, and woman-centric film festivals such as the International Images Film Festival for Women have been launched.