def METHOD_NAME(s):
    """Convert a --timestamp=s argument to a datetime object"""
    try:
        # is it pointing to a file / directory?
        ts = safe_s(os.stat(s).st_mtime)
        return datetime.fromtimestamp(ts, tz=timezone.utc)
    except OSError:
        # didn't work, try parsing as a ISO timestamp. if no TZ is given, we assume local timezone.
        return parse_local_timestamp(s)