Cuini Amelio Ortiz was born on August 22, 1955 in Santa Fe, Argentina. Shortly thereafter, her parents moved the family to a little town called La Falda, nestled in the mountains of Cordoba. At an early age Cuini discovered a lifetime passion for horseback riding. The unspoiled environment of La Falda offered her ample opportunities to explore mysterious forests and hidden rivers. She spent her youth in La Falda and then attended the University of Cordoba where she majored in film and journalism.

The military dictatorship that took over Argentina in 1976 provoked Cuini to leave her country. She traveled extensively throughout South America making anthropological documentaries, and then spent time in the United States where she continued her studies. In 1981 Cuini returned to Cordoba, where she founded a children's film institute called "La Quimera”. In 1983 she left Argentina for good, and moved to Brazil with her life companion, Hector Navarrete, and their son, Alejandro. In Brazil, she taught Filmmaking for Children courses at Santa Cecilia University, Santos and CESC of Pompeia, Sao Paulo.

Cuini’s film career took her to Rome where she conducted various seminars at La Sapienza University. In 1984 the Italian Ministry of Education invited her to direct a project dealing with visual language and its influence on society. Another project, financed by the European Council, was to create a children's film institute in Ispica, Sicily.

In 1985 Cuini arrived in Berlin and worked as a filmmaker. Her body of work includes more than 30 documentaries and interviews. She established the Department of Film and Video at the International Cultural Center Schlesische 27, and served as director through the year 2000. Her career as a teacher, conducting seminars in schools and universities throughout the world, continues until today.

In 2004 she was Head of Studies in La Università del Cinema e dellaTelevisione, in Cinecittà Rom, Italy
Between 2005 and 2007 she was Manager of the Cultural Department of AE MediaCorporation in Rome, Italy
Cuini is a cosmopolitan person, fluent in several languages, who completely identifies with her adopted city of Berlin …although she still dreams of the horses, forests and rivers of her far away childhood town.