Movie Trailer for "Quest for Fire" - (1981) Quest for Fire (French: La Guerre du feu) is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 Belgian novel by J.-H. Rosny (1856--1940). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and adapted by Gérard Brach, the film stars Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi, and Rae Dawn Chong. It won the Academy Award for Makeup. Michael D. Moore was the associate producer in charge of action & animal scenes. It is set in Paleolithic Europe, 80,000 years ago, its plot surrounding the struggle for control of fire by early humans. Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud Produced by: Jacques Dorfmann, John Kemeny, Véra Belmont, Denis Héroux, Michael Gruskoff Screenplay by: Gérard Brach Based on The Quest for Fire by J.-H. Rosny Starring: Everett McGill, Rae Dawn Chong, Ron Perlman