The year 11 Mount Aspiring College pupil has been selected as one of six young film-makers worldwide - and the sole New Zealander - to fly to Paris for the Panasonic Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Awards this December, for her 2012-produced entry.
The self-taught film-maker wrote, directed, shot and edited her five-minute film Forever Emily last year, loosely based on the death of a close relative nearly two years ago.
''My family have had experiences with grief, which kind of contributed to the story,'' Daisy said.
Forever Emily beat 200 other New Zealand entrants under the age of 16 at the national KWN finals.
Daisy (15) then flew to Vietnam to attend the Oceania regional finals last December, where she won the best videography category and best overall film.
Last week, she was chosen to attend the global awards, where she is up against young filmmakers from Malaysia, China, Japan, Germany and Russia.
''It's pretty exciting being selected as a finalist and being able to fly to Paris. I've got a lot to look forward to,'' Daisy said.
She wanted to put a ''different spin'' on the competition's theme of communication.
Forever Emily is a story of a teenage girl, Isabella, dealing with grief through writing.
It stars Daisy's 12-year-old sister Ming Thor-Poet, who plays the ghost of Isabella's friend Emily, and Daisy's friend Katherine Millis (15) plays Isabella.
''Isabella goes through all the stages of grief, like anger, denial, and then at the end she comes to grips with what has happened and overcomes the sadness and accepts it,'' Daisy explained.
Using techniques she gleaned from YouTube video tutorials, the film - shot beside the river in Arrowtown - includes flashbacks and the ghost of Emily talking to Isabella to ''guide her through her journey'' of grieving, Daisy said.
Mount Aspiring College teacher Hamish Crosbie, who travelled with Daisy to Vietnam for the Oceania awards, said the quality of her film-making and the way her story ''resonated'' with the judges set her apart from the other entrants.
''Forever Emily is a moving story and her success at an international level is testament to the hard work and dedication she put into the project,'' he said.
KWN is an annual global competition for under 16-year-olds, aimed at fostering creativity, teamwork and communication skills through video production.
Daisy also won the NZ KWN title in 2011 for her first film.
She is working on her latest entry for this year's national competition.
''Daisy is an extremely talented student with a bright future ahead of her in filmmaking.''
