<P> Schindler's List is a 1993 American historical period drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian . It is based on the novel Schindler's Ark by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally . The film follows Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten German businessman, who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish - Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II . It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern . </P> <P> Ideas for a film about the Schindlerjuden (Schindler Jews) were proposed as early as 1963 . Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Schindlerjuden, made it his life's mission to tell the story of Schindler . Spielberg became interested in the story 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 other directors before finally deciding to direct the film himself . </P> <P> Principal photography took place in Kraków, Poland, over the course of 72 days in 1993 . Spielberg shot the film in black and white and approached it as a documentary . Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński wanted to give the film a sense of timelessness . John Williams composed the score, and violinist Itzhak Perlman performs the film's main theme . </P> <P> Schindler's List premiered on November 30, 1993, in Washington, D.C. and it was released on December 15, 1993, in the United States . Often listed among the greatest films ever made, it was also a box office success, earning $321.2 million worldwide on a $22 million budget . It was the recipient of seven Academy Awards (out of twelve nominations), including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, as well as numerous other awards (including seven BAFTAs and three Golden Globes). In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked the film 8th on its list of the 100 best American films of all time . The Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2004 . </P>

Where does the movie schindler's list take place