Spielberg's next film, <answer>Schindler's List</answer>, was based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man who risked his life to save 1,100 Jews from the Holocaust. <answer>Schindler's List</answer> earned Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director (it also won Best Picture). With the film a huge success at the box office, Spielberg used the profits to set up the Shoah Foundation, a non-profit organization that archives filmed testimony of Holocaust survivors. In 1997, the American Film Institute listed it among the 10 Greatest American Films ever Made (#9) which moved up to (#8) when the list was remade in 2007.
What did Spielberg first win Best Director for?
Schindler's List