02342nas a2200313   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653002400043653002200067653002500089653002400114653002800138653003000166653001900196653002200215653001500237653001900252100001600271700002500287700002600312700001900338700001900357245010700376856014300483300000900626490000700635520136600642022002002008                                       d10aAudience engagement10acultural heritage10aDigital storytelling10aintangible heritage10aInteractive documentary10aMedia users’ engagement10aSustainability10acultural heritage10aMultimedia10aSustainability1 aAnna Podara1 aDimitrios Giomelakis1 aConstantinos Nicolaou1 aMaria Matsiola1 aRigas Kotsakis00aDigital Storytelling in Cultural Heritage: Audience Engagement in the Interactive Documentary New Life  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85100074058&doi=10.3390%2fsu13031193&partnerID=40&md5=14e40d20338cd3700735099b74f5d78f  a1-220 v133 aThis paper casts light on cultural heritage storytelling in the context of interactive documentary, a hybrid media genre that employs a full range of multimedia tools to document reality, provide sustainability of the production and successful engagement of the audience. The main research hypotheses are enclosed in the statements: (a) the interactive documentary is considered a valuable tool for the sustainability of cultural heritage and (b) digital approaches to documentary storytelling can provide a sustainable form of viewing during the years. Using the Greek interactive documentary (i-doc) NEW LIFE (2013) as a case study, the users’ engagement is evaluated by analyzing items from a seven-year database of web metrics. Specifically, we explore the adopted ways of the interactive documentary users to engage with the storytelling, the depth to which they were involved along with the most popular sections/traffic sources and finally, the differences between the first launch period and latest years were investigated. We concluded that interactivity affordances of this genre enhance the social dimension of cultural, while the key factors for sustainability are mainly (a) constant promotion with transmedia approach; (b) data-driven evaluation and reform; and (c) a good story that gathers relevant niches, with specific interest to the story.  a20711050 (ISSN)