Egyptian security officials have banned the screening of a Jewish documentary at Egyptian cinemas.

The ban was imposed one day before the "Jews of Egypt" documentary was due to be screened at three national cinemas today – no reasons were provided.

According to a report in the Huffington Post, the documentary looked at the lives of Egyptian Jews from the 1900s to the 1950s.

On the documentary’s official Facebook page, film producer Haytham el-Khamissy reportedly said: "There is no excuse for this except delay and obstruction.

“I announce the delay of the screening of `Jews of Egypt' until a solution is found for this inexplicable problem, inherited from long years in the parlors of the Egyptian state securities and which aim to terrorise thought and repress creativity."

It is believed that more than 65,000 Jews fled Egypt in 1948, when the state of Israel was created. A few elderly Jews remain; synagogues are heavily guarded and preserved as a tourist attraction.