Former U.S. President Bill Clinton presented the Oscar-winning filmmaker with the prize at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in a ceremony to honour the star’s artistic and humanitarian efforts.
Clinton took the opportunity to praise Spielberg’s charity efforts, which include setting up a foundation to document the stories of Holocaust survivors after he made World War II drama Schindler’s List.
Clinton told the crowd, “We honour a man today who has always been able to make a simple story and make it scary, make a simple story and make it interesting, and make a simple story and remind us of the greatness in us all.”
Spielberg will donate the Liberty Medal’s $100,000 (£62,500) cash prize to the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.
