Boubacar Traoré's life path had many obstacles. The moving documentary Je Chanterai Pour Toi reveals the story of the Malian singer, guitarist and songwriter nicknamed KarKar. In 1960 Mali became independent from France and in the euphoric period that followed, Traoré could be heard every morning on national radio with his Mali Twist, in which he motivated people to work for their homeland.
Unfortunately, music did not bring any bread to the table. When he married his great love Pierrette and started a family, Traoré stopped making music and made ends meet with difficulty with jobs as a carpenter, market seller and farmer. Pierrette died in childbirth in 1987. With most of his children standing on their own two feet, Traoré started performing sporadically again and left for France to work in construction. A British producer tracked him down, persuaded Traoré to record an album and so fate took a positive turn. Today Traoré lives in Bamako and regularly tours Europe and North America and releases albums of new songs. (SvdP)more