GREENFIELD — Over the last 13 years of creating his movie “Sheepdog” through building relationships with veterans and their families, director and actor Steven Grayhm sought to tell the stories of U.S. veterans once they return to civilian life.

The film, which was shot in Greenfield and Turners Falls, will make its worldwide debut at the 40th Boston Film Festival on its opening night Sept. 20. Grayhm, the cast of “Sheepdog,” and local veterans and their families will be in attendance.

The film aims to show the reality for many veterans, post-combat, who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but with a unique perspective on the post-traumatic growth (PTG) that can be possible from community compassion and personal growth.

“Sheepdog” starts by focusing on the main character, U.S Army Combat Veteran Calvin Cole (Grayhm) returning from his final deployment in Afghanistan, and is court-ordered to receive treatment for PTSD. He begins to work with Veterans Affairs (VA) trauma therapist Dr. Elicia Knox (Virginia Madsen) when his father-in-law and Vietnam War veteran Whitney St. Germain (Vondie Curtis-Hall) comes back into his life unexpectedly.

Grayhm’s character is forced to confront the trauma from his deployment while navigating social systems like the VA that make it difficult for his character to cope. Although Cole and the characters surrounding him are fictional and the movie is not a documentary, the experiences depicted come from real-life stories of veterans, VA personnel and communities.

Grayhm explained that these characters “represent” veterans, care providers, family members and people within the community that exist in cities and towns regionally. Grayhm pointed to Knox’s character, which he developed based on time he spent at a VA center in Detroit. There, he gained an understanding of the difficulties within the VA that veterans are subject to when they need help.

“There are many people that work at the VA that unfortunately get overshadowed by how broken the system is, but there are good people and there are people that wake up every day that give everything they have to the men and women that walk through those doors,” Grayhm said.

While focusing on those impacted by life after war, the film also highlights the concept of PTG rather than solely focusing on PTSD. Grayhm said this sets “Sheepdog” apart from others for the message of not only confronting PTSD, but living life in a fulfilling way after trauma.

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“Post-traumatic growth is shaping and harnessing the trauma that you’ve experienced, and living your life at its fullest on the other side of that trauma,” Grayhm said.

The title of the film is also symbolic, with a sheepdog being a military term for someone who is a protector of others that author Lt. Col. Dave Grossman coined in his book “On Combat.” Grayhm felt this term describes the movie’s theme of confronting trauma and moving past it with a goal for a better future.

As the film makes its debut, Grayhm hopes it shines a light on the need for support from communities and governments for veterans who are struggling, while also telling a story that does justice to the experiences of soldiers, veterans and their loved ones. “My hope is that I’ve given them a voice,” Grayhm said. “If we can save one life, a single life, off this film, it’ll not only be the greatest accomplishment of my life, but I think it’ll be the greatest Hollywood success.”

Grayhm, an Erving resident, started creating “Sheepdog” more than a decade ago. He traveled across the United States meeting with veterans during a 2013 tour to raise awareness around the veterans suicide epidemic with castmate and friend Matt Dallas. He heard from veterans how isolating conditions can be when returning to civilian life after combat.

“I witnessed, especially having two combat veteran brothers-in-law, how isolating that could be for you,” Grayhm said of the experience for veterans. He explained that many would return to their communities to find job opportunities were fewer, personal connections had moved on, and resources for care were unavailable or inaccessible.

As Grayhm returned to the area to film “The Secret of Sinchanee,” a previous movie of his, and spend time with family, the desire to film in Greenfield and Turners Falls grew from the connections he made and the small-town experience.

To create a story reflective of the experiences of veterans in the United States, Grayhm met with veterans who worked at the former Strathmore mill complex in Turners Falls, and it became an important plot point to the film.

“Some of our extras in the movie are not only veterans that are local, but were mill workers there,” Grayhm said, adding, “There’s a line in the movie in the opening of ‘Sheepdog’ where one of the mill workers is being interviewed by the local press, and he said, ‘The man took away the factory, but he didn’t take the people with him.’”

Grayhm said the local veterans told him stories of having to change careers, or commute to other mills to find work, and this created a feeling of being left behind as the world changed.

“What really spoke to me was that so many of these people feel left behind or forgotten,” Grayhm said.

While deployed, the economic and social landscapes changed for veterans who would return with little to no connections to the town or people they once knew. This fact was important to Grayhm for its commonality between local veterans and others across the country, especially for those returning from Afghanistan or Iraq, which the movie highlights.

While filming “Sheepdog,” Grayhm felt supported by these local veterans, and equally so by the civilian community. His now mother-in-law opened the former Black Cow Burger restaurant to the cast and crew while he was filming last winter, and Montague Police Lt. Christopher Bonnett lent his uniform to the film for Dominic Fumusa, who played Officer Clarence “Coach O” O’Riordan.

Between his interactions with local veterans and the community’s hospitality, Grayhm knew Greenfield and Turners Falls was the place to film that he would not compromise on.

“Those qualities of Greenfield, of Turners, of Gill, of Montague solidified knowing that I was going to shoot here,” Grayhm said. “It was the people.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.

An earlier version of this article included an incorrect reference to Steven Grayhm’s family members. Grayhm has two brothers-in-law who are combat veterans.