Question
Is it permissible to watch a video in which women are present if I lower my gaze or only look at their faces without desire?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
It is permissible to watch a video in which women are present on the condition that one does not look at any prohibited portions of their body and that one does not look at any part of their body with desire.
The above is due to the general rulings that looking at the opposite gender (though discouraged if without reason or need) is permissible with two conditions:
1) One only looks at the face, hands, and/or feet
2) One does not look at any part of their body (even the aforementioned parts) with desire.
[Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
Note that peripheral vision is pardoned due to the difficulty in averting it.
However, the above is based on the assumption that the content, in general, is permissible. If, however, the content is pornographic or is made with ill intent, then it is in no way permissible even in the above conditions.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani