Born in Rome in 1954, Daniele lives in Switzerland and often works in Latin America, where he has made a number of documentary films. After studying in Moscow, then engineering in Buenos Aires, he became a professor of mathematics and physics. He simultaneously published his photographic work in various Argentinian magazines and editions, and carried out photographic reports in various African countries.

In 1984-85 he trained in documentary filmmaking at the Ateliers Varan in Paris, before creating the production company Voleur in Paris. In 1993 he became head of various documentary film workshops, including one at the Fémis, and in 2000 a member and trainer at the Ateliers Varan. He was co-director with Catalina Villar of the Atelier Varan in Colombia and director of the Ateliers Varan in Portugal in 2004 and 2006. He supervised the Marseille workshop in 2004, a number of workshops in Paris, and the workshop in Recife, Brazil in 2016.