In the late summer of 2011, Taiwan's National Cultural Association awarded Presidential Culture Awards to two members of the film industry: ‘veteran’ director Hou Hsiao-hsien and Lee Lieh, an actress turned producer. It was the first time that anyone from the film industry had been chosen for the culture award. Though Lee Lieh was relatively new to producing in 2011, she had already produced two major blockbuster hits for Taiwan: Orz Boys/Jiong nan hai (directed by Yang Yache, 2008) and Monga/Bang-kah (directed by Doze Niu, 2010). Monga, released during the Chinese New Year period, grossed NT$270 million ($8.4 million) and became the third most successful Taiwanese film of all time after Wei Tu-sheng's Cape No. 7/Haijiao qi hao (2008) and Ang Lee's Lust Caution (2007). In reaction to her major success as a producer, a reporter from Screen Daily described Lee ‘as one of the most efficient and profitable producers by the Taiwanese film industry’. Another reporter commented on the Taiwanese media's prediction that the film industry was in the process of a strong revival. After the success of Cape No. 7 and Monga, the Taiwanese media began to report that the industry was likely to recoup over NT$1.5 billion in box office gross receipts.