Michał Modlinger graduated from the Cinematography Department of the Polish National Film School in Łódź (PWSFTViT) in 2019. His graduation film as cinematographer, "The Edge of Town", directed by Daria Kasperek, premiered in the international competition at the Warsaw Film Festival and later received awards in Opole, Poznań, and Stuttgart. Their next collaboration, "Equinox", was also recognized at festivals including the Gdynia Film Festival and Short Waves Festival.
His feature documentary debut, "Say Yes / No", directed by Paweł Hejbudzki, premiered at the international documentary film festival Docs Against Gravity. For another collaboration with Hejbudzki, "Early Apex", he received the award for Best Cinematography at the Krakow Film Festival in 2023. He is currently developing several new documentary projects.
In 2022, the AAA video game "Dying Light 2", for which he shot the in-engine cinematics and cutscenes, was released worldwide.
In 2025, he worked as second unit cinematographer on the feature debut of Agnieszka Zwiefka, photographed by Jolanta Dylewska.
In January 2026, he began shooting "Good Death", a Japanese–Taiwanese–Polish feature film directed by Atsushi Funahashi, starring Andrzej Chyra and Eliza Rycembel.