Ming Kai Leung earned his MFA in film from Columbia University in New York, where he won the school's Best Cinematography Award three times. He also attended Asian Film Academy organized by Busan International Film Festival, where he won the Best Performance Award as a cinematographer.

His feature debut as a cinematographer, Anocha Suwichakornpong's MUNDANE HISTORY, won the top prize Tiger Award at Rotterdam and the NETPAC Award at Taipei Golden Horse. It also earned Ming Kai an invitation to compete at Plus Camerimage, the International Film Festival for the Art of Cinematography in Poland.

Ming Kai's recent cinematography efforts include OLD STONE, which premiered at Berlin, won Best Canadian First Feature at Toronto and won the FIPRESCI prize at Vladivostok. It was nominated for Archievement in Cinematography by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK competed at Locarno and won New Talent Award at Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. It won Best Picture at the Thailand National Film Association Awards, and was nominated for Best Cinematography. MURMUR OF THE HEARTS, directed by Sylvia Chang, was the opening film of Hong Kong International Film Festival. Ming Kai also shot INVISIBLE SPACES, the first Georgian short film selected for official competition at Cannes.

Over the years, Ming Kai has shot in many countries, including the United States, China, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, Japan, Greece, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As a director, Ming Kai's short film THREE BOYS won the top prize Gold Award at the Hong Kong Independent Film and Video Awards, the most important short film competition in Hong Kong. It also represented the Philippines in competition at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, the world's leading showcase for short films. LOCK was an official selection of Tribeca Film Festival, TWO GIRLS won the Top Prize at China-America Festival of Film and Culture, and ON ONE competed at San Jose International Short Film Festival.