The Mansouri family opens up a new restaurant after the fall of the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan only to be subsequently targeted by factional Taliban elements.

When Taliban authorities deny the turning over of Osama Bin Laden post 911, U.S. Forces rout their leadership from Kabul and free its Afghan citizens from the brutal grip of spiritual henchman Mullah Mohammed Omar and that of his dark-age Sharia led leadership. Seizing upon this new and volatile window of freedom, matriarch Farishta Mansouri along with her husband Hadar normalize their family's efforts by turning her deceased father's Soviet destroyed bookstore into a restaurant. A place of hope called "The Poet's Corner" along with an open microphone, a small stage and an invitation for all Afghans to read their poetry, voice is now given to the voiceless. Both men and women now have a safe, equal and inviting place to tell their stories and to sing their songs. But like a lightening rod, these new voices of freedom attract the darkest, lingering factional Taliban elements who then target the Mansouri family in the most heinous ways imaginable. In their efforts to silence the platform of freedom, Farishta and Hadar Mansouri are made a dire example by that of the Taliban through their desire to live freely, safely and with their own self-determination. Ultimately overcoming overwhelming odds the Taliban leadership is given a lesson of their own.—David M. O'Neill

After the Taliban is routed from Afghanistan in early 2001, the Mansouri family seizes the new window of freedom by opening a restaurant called "The Poet's Corner," with an open microphone and an inviting platform for all to read poetry and tell their stories. This newfound hope proves to be fleeting as they struggle to maintain their lifestyle when encountering very real threats from lingering factions of the Taliban. "The Black Tulip" is a modern portrait of Afghanistan that captures the current plight and resilience of its people.—Chris A. Cole