AN INTERESTING new development on the film front is the increasing popularity of "docu-drama" feature films. In the past documentary formats were regarded as too "serious" to be commercial. It was felt that moviegoers liked strong storylines, escapist content and treatment, and star-oriented material.

Of late, however, docu-dramas have been rating well with viewers, even in our mainstream cinemas. The first to click with moviegoers this year was "The Blair Witch Project," a movie by some student filmmakers that was produced for less than $ 40,000, but has gone on to make over $ 100 million at the tills.

Some people didn't know that the characters in the movie were actors, and thought that the film was a straight documentary that sought to investigate the real-life disappearance in the woods of some film students making a documentary about an old witch who kept spooking a small town and killing people for many years.

In fact, after our review of the film came out, we got a call from a well-known person who pretended to be "mad" at us because we had "exposed" the fact that the characters were being played by actors. He was joking, of course, but his point was that the docu-drama was so well-made that her had completely fallen for its "realistic" tale.

Another viewer said that the documentary-like realism of "The Blair Witch Project" made its scenes even more spooky, because they looked so bereft of melodrama and hype.

Another plus factor of documentary-type production is the fact that their general lack of strong storylines makes them better able to shift gears, as it were, and explore more aspects of an issue or situation, thus giving more varied inputs that viewers can use to come to their own conclusions regarding the "real" experience they've had.

This ties in well with another recent docu-drama, "Not One Less,"" that has been getting raves from viewers. Its maker, ace Chinese director Zhang Yimou, is famous for his ability to combine period exoticism with a realistic approach.

In "Not One Less," however, he takes his realistic streak even further. For the first time in his career, he's working with non-actors who have been cast to play characters very close to themselves.

For example, the substitute teacher in the movie is played by a 12-year-old student chosen from many young girls who lived in the small village where the film was to be shot. Her nastiest student was another villager, and the characters in the TV studio that was featured in the movie were actual workers at the station that was used as one of the film's settings.

Why did the acclaimed director decide to play it so real in his latest film? He explains that he wanted a completely believable, no-frills production because his movie was set in a very small and impoverished village where the usual "actor" types would stand out. And he wanted to stress not "eventful"plot or complex characterization but the film's theme, which is the liberating power of education.

At first. Zhang was afraid that viewers would get turned off by his movie's rigorous realism, but viewers have embraced the film and taken it to their heart because it is so honest and pure. Even better, "Not One Less" has gone on to cop the top award in this year's Venice International Film Festival.

A third docu-drama has yet to be shown but also merits special attention. This is "Bayaning Third World," Mike de Leon's "investigation" into the heroism of Dr. Jose Rizal.

Instead of dealing with the national hero's life in a sequential, dramatic manner, the acclaimed Filipino filmmaker has opted to take a documentary approach that seeks to work at many levels and view the hero's life and achievements from different points of view. The much-awaited film could be shown as early as December this year.

De Leon's movie would have had a tough time clicking with viewers some years ago, but moviegoers' enthusiastic reaction to other docu-dramas like "The Blair Witch Project" and "Not One Less" is a positive sign that the new Rizal movie's unconventional approach could also find favor with viewers.