Cünyet Kaya was born in West-Berlin in 1980. He started studying mathematics, but then switched to filmmaking. Between 2004 and 2006, he worked on an EC project, collaborating with local filmmakers from England, Poland, Italy and Spain on several documentaries about refugees in Europe.

In 2005, Kaya founded the production company "All Ahead Film", which also rents out film equipment. Together with Hans Weingartner, he wrote the screenplay for "Die Summe meiner einzelnen Teile" (2011), which he also co-directed. In 2013, Cüneyt Kaya completed his first feature film with "Ummah – Unter Freunden", a drama about a federal agent who infiltrates a right-wing extremist organisation, blows his cover and eventually has to hide in the Turkish-Arabian community of Berlin.