I think you're onto something.  I've always felt that if you picked the right
subject, one where the stylistic qualities of Hi-8mm matched your subject,
you could get away with Hi-8 for a feature.  (I transferred 1" video to 35mm
dolby surround for a feature on The Beach Boys in 1986.  We premiered it in
The Director's Guild Theater in Los Angeles for over 600 press and not a
single person wrote "Hey, that's not a film, that's video!!" which was my
greatest fear.
 
Please let me know what you find out about this subject.  Well worth
exploring for low budget filmmakers.  Thank you.