A Russian court on Monday rejected acclaimed director Kirill Serebrennikov's appeal against his house arrest in a controversial fraud case that has sent shockwaves through the arts community. "The Moscow city court decided not to change the decision - he remains under house arrest," a judiciary spokesman told AFP. Top theatre and film director Serebrennikov was placed under house arrest last month until October 19, accused of defrauding the state of over $1 million in arts funding. The director - who heads Moscow's Gogol Centre and staged productions at the Bolshoi theatre - has denounced the charges as "absurd".