Schindler's List is a American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg , and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. The film follows Oskar Schindler , a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish—Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II.
Ideas for a film about the Schindlerjuden Schindler Jews were proposed as early as Poldek Pfefferberg , one of the Schindlerjuden , made it his life's mission to tell Schindler's story. Spielberg became interested when executive Sidney Sheinberg sent him a book review of Schindler's Ark.
Universal Pictures bought the rights to the novel, but Spielberg, unsure if he was ready to make a film about the Holocaust, tried to pass the project to several directors before deciding to direct it himself.
Spielberg shot in black and white and approached the film as a documentary. John Williams composed the score, and violinist Itzhak Perlman performed the main theme.
Schindler's List premiered on November 30, , in Washington, D. The film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress in and selected for preservation in the U. National Film Registry. Oskar Schindler , a German Nazi Party member from Czechoslovakia , arrives in the city, hoping to make his fortune. He bribes Wehrmacht German armed forces and SS officials, acquiring a factory to produce enamelware.
