[1][2] Negrin started his career as a fine art photographer.
[3] In 1962 he debuted as an assistant stage director, collaborating with Orazio Costa and Giorgio Strehler.
[3] In a career spanning over four decades, Negrin has directed over 30 films and series, including the giallo film Enigma rosso (1978), Mussolini and I (1985), starring Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins and Susan Sarandon, the TV miniseries The Secret of the Sahara (1987) (with Ben Kingsley), Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair (1989) (with Burt Lancaster), Tower of the Firstborn, Perlasca – Un eroe Italiano (2002), Il Cuore nel Pozzo (2005) and Mi Ricordo Anna Frank.
The historical drama film Perlasca – Un eroe Italiano earned him a Telegatto Award for Best TV movie.
Il Cuore nel Pozzo, a film about the Foibe massacres and Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, was watched by 17 million people on its first broadcast in Italy.