Leung Ming-kai competed as debut cinematographer at Camerimage for the film Mundane History. Subsequently, Kai has shot more than two dozen features in different parts of the world. He has been nominated for Best Cinematography in Thailand for By the Time It Gets Dark; in Canada for Old Stone; and twice in Taiwan at the Golden Horse Awards, for The Sunny Side of the Street and for Drifting. Top-tier festivals around the world have selected many films he has shot.

Kai also directs. His short film Three Boys represented the Philippines in competition at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and won the top prize at the Hong Kong Independent Film & Video Awards. It also screened at Sao Paulo, Austin, and Jecheon. Kai directed and wrote omnibus film Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down with Kate Reilly, and together, they won Best Screenplay and Film of Merit at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.