Dozens of other leading Russian actors and directors in Russia have also called for the charges to be dropped.
Kirill Serebrennikov, 48, is accused of embezzling 133m roubles (£1.7m) in government funds allocated to his Platforma theatre project.
His 2016 film, The Student, was a searing critique of religious extremism and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Serebrennikov, dressed in black and wearing a baseball cap, appeared in court on Tuesday to dispute his theatre project had embezzled state funds.
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