Short film with a background: Freestyler Dudu Levi on his new film "Barefoot"

The 31-year-old Israeli is a passionate ambassador for the sport of windsurfing, especially the discipline of freestyle. With his high-quality films, he wants to motivate the next generation of freestylers to take off and attract more people to the water in general.

His latest film, shot in Brazil, is called "Barefoot" and shows his comeback after a tough time for him: "I was at the peak of my career and windsurfing better than ever. But on the darkest and most painful morning of October 7th 2023, everything changed without any warning. All my plans were gone and I was called back to the army for five months. The hardest and saddest chapter in my life. I believe it was the same for most Israelis."
When it was possible for Dudu to travel again, he set off to clear his head, took part in a contest and broke his foot - so again, all his plans were cancelled.
"As I slowly recovered from the injury, I decided to travel to Brazil, to Jericoacoara, a place where the wind never stops during the season. I dreamed of living by the sea, eating well, sleeping well and windsurfing every day. That's how the story for this film came together."

You can really feel the euphoria and joie de vivre of the Israeli windsurfer in this film. You often only really appreciate things after they have been taken away from you – for whatever reason.

Dudu, how did you come up with the name "Barefoot"?

The name comes from the fact that you can walk barefoot all day long on the sandy streets of Jericoacoara. After I broke my foot and had to wear a cast, I only wanted to walk barefoot without being in pain. As part of my physiotherapy, it was also important for me to walk barefoot to strengthen my foot again.

I was called back to the army for five months – the hardest and saddest chapter in my life.

Did this trip to Brazil feel special for you after such a tough time?

Yes, I was very happy to return to Brazil. The last time I was there was in 2017, it's a very special place where you can push your freestyle level to the highest possible level. The atmosphere in Jericoacoara is amazing and it's hard to describe how much fun it was to spend a long time there. However, it was hard for me to let go of the fact that I was coming off an injury as I really wanted to push my limits in windsurfing, but the pain in my foot was there all the time.

It looks like you're enjoying windsurfing and filming more and more. This is your second impressive film in a row...

I've decided that competitions are no longer a priority and I've started to only sail in good conditions and go on relaxed holidays where I don't have to achieve results. This gives me more freedom and I really enjoy it. When you have good conditions, you can just focus on enjoying the improvement from day to day, and that's exactly what happened in Brazil.

You are now 31 years old and are still constantly learning new things in freestyle. How do you keep fit and stay hungry to push forward? Tell us your best tips.

I feel like I have more control over my body as I get older, I know myself better. Of course it's harder to train at my age than when I was younger, but now I'm more focussed and don't have to spend so many hours in the water per session, so I keep my energy up. I try to windsurf as much as possible. Now with the foil I'm on the water a lot more and that keeps me in shape. My tip is to be physically active every day and feel what works better during a windsurfing session and work on that and not get too hung up on things that aren't going so well that day.

Also interesting: "FREE SPIRIT" by Dudu Levi