本文從台灣紀錄片近年常被批評「濫情」與「去政治」之狀況為起點，回顧八十年代「直接電影」與「真實電影」形式在台灣的發展，探索影像政治的意涵。本文提出，政治性是台灣紀錄片的重要「基因」。以眼見為憑的見證影像來對抗主流媒體和官方觀點，和透過互為主體策略拍攝出被攝者觀點的世界，都曾是台灣紀錄片重要特色。但「感動」與「共鳴」後來成為了主調，反映了「真實電影」在台灣的片面發展。本文認為，重新呼喚台灣紀錄片的政治性除了是拍攝者的問題外，也是研究者與評論者的任務。

In recent years, Taiwanese documentaries were always criticized for being sentimental and depoliticized. This article reviews the development of “direct cinema” and “cinema verite" in Taiwan “New documentaries” of the 1980s, examining the political elements of Taiwanese documentaries. It argues that Taiwanese documentaries had political potential. Documentary filmmakers at that time used documentary films to against social images produced by mainstream media and government, and explored the viewpoints of the people by employing intersubjective documentary approaches; however, to arouse resonance among filmmakers, subjects of the film, and audience became characteristic of Taiwanese documentaries afterwards, which limited further development of cinema-verite documentaries in Taiwan. The article states that to reactivate the “political gene”of Taiwanese documentaries are not only the tasks of documentary filmmakers, but also the duties of researchers and critics.